Strawhats plus 1
by HalocraZze
Summary: Just a story about the life of the Strawhat Crew...and an extra person who escaped my imagination and somehow managed to get into the world of one piece :P might include OOC-ness my first fanfic, rated T for language...and maybe violence...(?)
1. Prologue

**"DEMON FORTRESS-ASHURA"**

**a.k.a.**

**TOORIMA**

-PROLOGUE- ?

The Strawhat-Pirates' ship docked at LogueTown for the first time.

At the same time, an uproar was broadening, nothing special for the by pirates beleaguered town.

Hence no one really cared what was happening right at the same time in the shadows immediately close.

That was also the reason for nobody seeing how the crowd was literally rabbling itself through the tight trading routes. No wonder, nobody could know **what exactly** was in progress there.

At least it was nothing new, that the drunk, poor, pickpockets, orphans living on the street and all the remaining scum left, were "pestering" the city and -so it seemed- didn't have anything better to do but to beat each other up for food or money. That was generally-known to be by rabbles' nature.

So, this daily commotion didn't affect the Strawhats' stay.

Each of them was attending to one selves' business; Luffy wanted to see the scaffold, on which the former king of pirates "Gol D. Roger" had been executed, with his own eyes. Nami was only there for shopping and Sanji was most probably just chasing, under the excuse of needing to get fresh food supplies, after some random women. Usopp decided to use their time onshore to reequip and upgrade their ship anew.

Zoro, on the other hand, was acting according to plan, which he would be heavily obliged to be since he would be lost already after only a few seconds in town.

He had put himself the goal to look for extraordinary weapons and to randomly browse through some dubious Arm' shops for flukes for yet another katana. With only 2 swords, his 3-sword style was well knowingly hard to accomplish and it was hard to fight that way.

While the pirates were channeling their way through town, the uproar from before was drifting more and more to the center of the city and the scaffold-place.

By now it had already caused more of a commotion because it was lasting for quite a while now, too much of a while for just a small little brawl between drunk goof-offs.

No one knew yet, that the matter which was responsible for the commotion didn't have, in the slightest bit, anything to do with issues of drunk scum.

The person on whose behalf this quarrel had grown was having, already since early morning, a relentless pursuit through half of LogueTown.

The fact that those brawlers of the Starwhats hadn't noticed anything about this yet was indeed something like a wonder. But this could already change within a few seconds.

Everything still seemed peaceful; Luffy was ripping the merchants baldly off their foods and was making a run for it quickly before any of them could even notice their vendible had been stolen. Nami was already searching for some random citizen to fall victim to be her beggarly drudge and Sanji was heckling under hard nosebleeds after women at every corner of the street. Usopp would have without fail already for more than just once hammered his instruments on his fingers instead of hitting the nails and blanks.

Zoro had already found what he had been looking for. He had somehow managed to get his hands on a katana that was told to be cursed thus he had got it for free and they had almost thrown it after him – and all that without getting lost too many times in LogueTown.

So he made his way back to the ship in a good mood for training purposes because there wasn't anything left for him to do in town, with a big, aslope grin on his face.

This would become a more difficult thing as it sounded, since he was still walking non-knowingly in direction of the center of the city.

As he was just about to admit that he had actually lost his way for real, a loud, incomprehensive murmuring sound could be heard from a few streets afar.

After all, the voices got louder and finally changed into mad yells and wild curses.

Some hasty footsteps were followed by loud stamping of a 3dozents pair of feet, which seemed to belong to the commotion which had almost advanced up to the center of the city.

Hounded panting sounds of the haunted steps wafted unnoticed and fast through the alleyways.

"Hey -YOU…!" the mob screeched.

"You filthy little bastard! Stop and you might get outta this alive!"

But the figure didn't even think about turning around and kept lashing through the cramped, convoluted trading routes.

"Turn around or we're gonna shoot you down!"

The stones, which were thrown as a warning, hit the person at its head and caused it to stagger.

"Die, you ignoble little son of a bitch! When I get you I'm gonna send my men after you!"

At those words the figure stared back at its pursues over its shoulder. "Hrr…-!" it cursed and increased its speed again although the air was already burning like fire in its throat.

It was worth nothing, the mob drew closer and soon, the person would run into a dead end. …It was over.

"Goddamn it!" the figure gasped and lashed around the next corner.

Zoro in the meantime was looking around confused and disoriented "How the heck did I get here?!" he was asking himself flabbergasted in the middle of the merchants' stands far away from the docks, which had originally been his destination.

He scratched the back of his head and stared up to the sky "Just theoretically this should be the right place, shouldn't it?" he thought as he gazed up at the suns' location, which did not in any way relate to why he was lost.

"Fuck-!" he started cursing because he didn't have the slightest clue from which direction he had come in the first place. Sense of orientation wasn't one of his strong points;

.all!

Bugged out, he stretched one of his fingers and started counting which street he should take next. After all he still changed his decision, because he thought his senses might eventually lead him to the right direction by accident. Hence, he turned around and headed to one of the streets, which seemed to be most likely the right one to him; the most sinister and gloomy one in his reach.

He should really HAVE chosen the path according to where his finger had pointed; this could at least have kept him from getting into trouble…

He was watching at the exact false direction, right at the moment when he heard a loud noise from his right.

He was just about to pull out his katana, but too late.

Something – or rather SOMEONE pretty small slammed at full weight and at a tearing pace right into him.

Afterwards, a cursed "What the fucking-"literally 'flew' outta his mouth and was followed by the huge mob.

- **ZOROS' VIEW –**

Immediately, I stared down at the ground and looked for the one that had tried to knock me over. Right in front of me a small girl was crouching down on the cobblestones, it was her who had crashed into me, so it seemed…well…she ended up falling to the ground pretty hard.

"Err, umm – well…" I kept murmuring incomprehensibly and clutched at her arm cowardly to pull her up. The following still stays a miracle for me; afterwards, many things happened at the same time with a tremendous speed.

The girl snapped her head up and stared at me.

Shortly after, I felt throbbing pain as she pulled out some dagger and cut right through the stretched out palm of my hand. Within only a few seconds she leapt up on her feet and was now setting her gaze right at me. I could barely do anything but to follow suit in shock.

I was staring down right into those clear, light green eyes.

Her gaze seemed hounded, almost desperate.

And now that I finally stole some proper glance of her, I noticed that her scraped um knees were trembling, she was breathing heavily and her temple was bleeding incontinently.

Her young face was reflecting the same shock as mine.

I estimated her age only around 15, if anything. But then, she suddenly tore her face around again and my view followed her. Then I finally understood.

Without hesitation she raced past me and disappeared in another alleyway, just as an over 30-head strong mob came running around the exact same corner, the girl had just come from. They seemed to have pursuit her, for whatever reasons…

Totally flabbergasted those brainless guys were goofing off at me.

"Hey, where the fuck'd she go?!" an extraordinary shabby-looking old thug grunted.

I furrowed my brows and put my sword back into its cover.

"Wherever the fuck she is, we gotta find her!" it resounded from the back of the crowd.

"YEAH! Let's find her and fuck her up!" the others joined in.

"Let's see what crazy ass stuff we can drag outta her!" a coarse giant hissed, spat on the cobble and ran past me into the direction in which the girl had just run off to.

"Let's go n get her! As long as she's alive, we'll at least get her bounty!"

Now I heard up.

"This is gonna be quite the fun!"

I almost tore my katana out of their fastening and drew closer to the mob.

Without batting an eye, I swung my blades while the sky got lanced by splatters of blood. One by one, they fell to the hard plastered ground and stopped moving.

Shaking my head, I put back my weapons and turned to go.

They probably wouldn't get her today anymore, that small one would guaranteed already be miles away, I thought while looking into direction of the towns' center as I walked on into dusk.

** - PROLOGUE END -**

**authors note :**

****well umm...so this is my first fanfiction.

I've already been writing stuff like that for over 2 years, but I've never before translated all of it into english, so just ignore the mistakes I might have made, okay? *sweats*

Don't hesitate to correct me if it bothers you too much ^^

I'm happy about anything coming from you readers; private messages, reviews...whatever^^

Hope u liked or even enjoyed it, I'll try do upload chapter one as soon as I transalte it :)

SEE U NEXT TIMEE!

**P.S:**

**...man, really now.**

**Only the first chapter and already over 1,600 words?**

**...damn it.**


	2. Chapter 1

**whoa...can't believe my autumn break flew past me so darn fast O.o**

**I got like 4 days left and I haven't done ANYTHING except being on the internet^^**

**haha :D (god I'm so doomed...!)**

**1****st**** STAGE**

Several months later - after the takedown of Sir Crocodile – on the last island stop ahead of the infamous "White Sea", the ocean in the sky.

This place seemed to be almost magically attracting past traveling fishermen and people sailing across the sea. In almost every tavern stories about the ocean in the sky and about the 'God' Enel were told. Every chamber available was reserved and even the worst Pubs were already flowing over with curious onlookers who believed in those rumors.

Some of them already left the island after staying for only one night, because they didn't believe in any of those stories, probably out of gutlessness or maybe even in assurance of never being able to make it through 'up there'. Hence it wasn't really a wonder that pubs became drinking holes at night in which a mass of pirates spent their time.

One of those pirates, who had seemed to nest here just like vermin, was 'Bellamy the Hyena'.

He and his crew were pestering and besetting most of the whole island and you could almost call them the most feared pirate crew on this freckle of land.

But not today on this evening when the Strawhats had thrown their anchor on the shore of Mock Town.

It was Luffy, who just couldn't resist the rumors about the sea in the sky.

As a result, the ones suffering were his crew who just got dragged along whether they wanted or not. Just like always, the Strawhats somehow managed to get into disputes which most of the time ended up as brawls which preferably resulted in worn out teeth and bloody noses.

That's why it wasn't possible for them to **not **end up in a conflict with the Bellamy-Pirate Crew. But it wasn't for the Strawhats themselves to let it get this far in the first place.

It occurred in a bar in the center of the island. Just like every evening since a few months, the pub was literally overflowing with drunken pirates. They drank, spread rumors- which naturally became more unbelievable the longer the night lasted – and of course, they rabbled and beat each other up.

You could already hear the jolly mood from far away and as the Strawhats finally arrived, they suddenly had to dodge a splintering glass bottle which just came flying from across the bar out of the blue.

Luffy grinned widely and declared full-throated: "Is there anyone who knows something about Sky island?!"

Instant silence, accompanied by dry coughs and suspicious stares aimed at the obvious newcomers.

Sanji and Usopp exchanged questioning looks.

Most of the pirates in the bar were confusedly looking at each other and slowly started to laugh completely stumped.

A loud snorting laugh got out of one of the dark corners of the room.

"What did you say…?" a smelly pirate with greasy hair who sat between a group of sailors snorted with laughter and had risen from his seat.

Luffy was eyeing at him as he continued to speak.

"You believe in those sucked dry myths?! What do you want from that place?!"

The Strawhat cocked his head to the side and announced with adventurous voice:

"I'm gonna become the king of pirates and find 'One Piece'!"

Now every guests jaws dropped according to the words the young pirate brat had just stated loud and clear.

Even the bad smelling pirate couldn't help but stare at the pirate as if his eyebrows were to fall off his face. Finally he got hold of himself again and burst into loud grunting laughter.

"Find One Piece – fucking_One Piece…_?! You?! Don't make me laugh!" he jumped up with his finger stretched out.

"Our captain and us have been here for ages and you little brat are tynna tell me **you **of all people would have what it takes to find One Piece?! Listen-"he snapped his head up "You're poles apart reaching that goal, you'll need way more than just the bare rumor of SkyIsland! Not even the most foolish ordinary seaman would believe those!"

Unimpressed and while picking his nose, Luffy countered:

"Heeh? Your captain must be lacking nuts then."

Zoro and the other crew members grinned as the pirates' face now warmed up and his head started to swell up to an unsanitary size because of anger.

"You wanna tell me I'm a chicken-hearted dog?!"

He pulled out his gun and pointed at Luffy.

"Let's see if you still wanna shoot your fat mouth in a lil' while!"

Without delay, Zoro covered for his captain and drew out his katana.

The pirate of Bellamys' crew pulled the trigger.

"No weapons!" it sounded from behind the bar and the gun slipped out of the frozen pirates' hand in an instant.

The whole guests in the bar stared at the person in the back of the bar who had just raised its voice.

The girl behind the counter stared bored into an emptied bottle of rum which she held inside her hand.

The pirate was staring at her with unbelieving eyes, grabbed his weapon, stepped up to the bar and was now menacing the girl with his gun pointed at her temple.

The other pirates from his crew had also stood up and loud shocked murmuring sounds from the guests echoed through the bar.

"Oh darling, **what **did your cutie-pie lips just say? " The pirate now asked the girl.

"Weapons aren't allowed here, just like that sign over there says." She answered with condescending gaze.

"Oh-ho…" he said with perverted grin. „You don't say."

He seized the girl at her shirt and tore at her aperture.

"Oi-!" Sanji spoke up by taking a step forward while frown lines made their way on his forehead. But the affair just cleared itself after a few seconds.

Just as Zoro was about to step in, the waitress grabbed the pirate at his flange and jumped onto the counter in one go and was now standing above that thug.

Out of confusion he had dropped his gun.

** - Her View -**

I was on rant and rave! Did that guy just grab at my cleavage?

Okay. Time to die, **BOY**!

I clutched my hands with full force and strangled him until he was unable to breathe.

"That's it?" I inquired sightly unaffected by the fierce situation.

But that idiot still didn't want to answer.

Fine! By now, his face had gotten kind of a bluish color and his eyes started squinting, so I just push him off me.

He crawled off to his so called "Crew" as anxious as an infant.

Wo-hoo, as if I'd let you, **BUDDY**!

I slid off the counter on which I still was perching on and just kicked that filthy pirate off to the exit.

"Shove off!" I called after him and tapped my hands on the dishcloth that still hung over my shoulder.

Well, let's continue with the drinks, I thought and tramped back to the counter. The remaining Bellamy-Crew did as their idiotic captain and backed off to the departure doors.

But someone grabbed at my shoulders and pressed my back against the wall.

"Well babe? How about us?" a drunk, fat, giant-like pirate asked me with his slimy voice "Something as an apology?" his fat face came closer. Too close!

"If it's another bowl of sake you want, just forget it, your breath already reeks of a long-before died animal! " I spat right at his face.

"We-he-heell…!" he babbled and grinned down to me.

Okay then…

His nose broke with an exceedingly penetrant crunch as my fist just happened to encounter right with his face.

He grappled me at my hip and jerked me around.

In my opinion, this definitely took too much time. What would the other guests and the new guys who had just got in, think of this bad hospitality of mine?

"After all, let's do it the hard way, Shi-chan!" he jellified his speech. I promptly grabbed an empty bottle of rum and creamed it over his head.

I sighed exasperated and walked light-footed over his flabby, unconscious body.

"So" I said and turned towards the new guests.

- **Her View / END -**

The girl turned around and faced the Strawhats with bugged out glance. With mistrustful eyes, she gazed at the 7 pirates in front of her.

So **this **were the well-known _Strawhat Pirates_.

The captain didn't seem to be one of the brightest, but she knew, he didn't have his bounty just for nothing. With patronizing look, she let her eyes take a glance of any single one of them.

But then, she tilted her head to the side and surprise made its way to her face.

"Is that you, Sanji-kun?!" the girl asked the cook who now went a step closer to her.

"Shi-chan!" he called as he finally figured out who the person facing him was.

"I knew It could've only been you!" he now tear-jerked with eyes shaped as hearts and wobbled amorous with his arms.

"**NOW **you notice?!" the swordsman roared at the cook and punched him straight onto his head where after the situation escalated and they soon after broke out into a fight.

The waitress, who had just wanted to ask the cook something, let her head hang with a sigh and lead the remaining crew to a table and went to get their drinks.

After a short while in which she had given advice about the island to their captain, Luffy asked: "Do you know something about SkyIsland? We're gonna sail to heaven!"

"Not **we **but **you** "Nami but in and gave him a noxious look.

The waitress answered: "I don't know more than what you can get out of those rumors."

"But you're living on this island, aren't you?" the navigator piped up again.

"More or less, but I'm here rather unintentionally, not because of the Sky warriors' treasure which you pirates lust after." She countered.

The navigator jerked her head around.

"Giant treasure, you say?" she now asked with shiny eyes.

The waitress couldn't really recall to have mentioned whether the treasure was 'giant' or not, but she still replied.

"Of course. What do you think you pirates are interested in SkyIsland for in the first place? Bet it's not because of the beautiful view up there." She eyed at the crew with hunched brow.

Zoro, who had been sitting in a little distance away from them just holding a jug of beer, now rose up his voice.

"Do you know how to get there?!

The girl turned her glance over to him and shortly examined him, whereupon he avoided her aggravating gaze.

"No, like I already told you, I know just as much as you do."

With his swords leaned onto his shoulder, the swordsman looked at the girl for a second and then drank the rest of his beer and emptied his jug in one go.

Nami sighed in disappointment and said:"Luffy, we should get going, or how long do you plan to stay here wasting time?"

Luffy looked at her thoughtfully before answering.

"Are you coming with us?" he asked the girl and his whole crew sighed in unison.

"Luffy! Not again!"

But the waitress only shook her head and stood up holding Zoros empty jug and replied.

"No, the sky doesn't concern me; you better go and ask for information in other bars. At least someone should know what you gotta do."

Luffy nodded grinning and the waitress walked around the counter again and put the by now 6th jug of beer in front of the swordsmans face.

Zoro took it without looking at her, emptied it in one go and rose from his seat next to the bar.

"Luffy? We'd better get going."

The captain nodded in agreement and turned to the waitress with a big grin "When we get back, we're gonna take you along with us!" With this, he went in front of the others to the exit of the now completely empty bar.

But shortly before he really left the pub he turned around again and called out to the waitress in a hurry.

"-And thanks!"

Sanji came jumping at the waitress for a last time.

"Bye-bye, Shi-chaaan!"

The girl slapped the palm of her hand right into the cooks face and stopped him abruptly in mid-air.

"You better not show up here again, Sanji!" she told him with a crooked smirk.

The last to leave the bar was Zoro as he followed after his crew.

A high pitched swinging noise sound up and the swordsman jerked his head around to see where the noise came from.

He stared at the sharp edged chipped shard of glass which stuck in the doorframe and had just missed him by a hair.

"Next time, I **won't **be _in the mood_ to miss." The girl hissed cold as ice as he stared at her with furrowed brows.

"You'd better leave your swords outside, _Roronoa_…" emphasing the last word.

She stood in front of the counter and gazed at him through her rigid light-green eyes.

With serious glance he fixated the girl and crooked his lips to his typical shark-grin, as he noticed the smashed bottle of rum in her hand.

Even as he had already left the bar, the young girl kept watching after the spinach-green swordsmans head.

**Stage 1 – END -**

**authors note :**

**jup, that's the second chapter :P**

**a little bit longer than the first but not that much^^**

**I had some trouble publishing it because I didn't get the process of updating this at first ...ehehe *sweats***

**so umm...I hope I'll be able to upload chapter 2 and 3 as soon as I've transalted them into english. ( hope it doesn't take too long :/)**

**well, hope you liked it and see u next time! ;)**


	3. Chapter 2

**...And hello to chapter 2 (or 3 if you want to call it like that... :))**

**How did u spend Halloween? I've been out with some friends...That club we went to wans't as awesome as we thought it' be though -.-***

**...how come I get the feeling these random notes won't have anything to do with the story...?**

**2****nd**** STAGE**

With a _"click", _the young waitress locked the pubs' door behind her.

With a blank glance, she looked up to the starry sky and sighed.

"And what now…?" like every night, since she had come to this island, she found herself in front of the deserted port and didn't know what to do with herself. She was restless, no matter how exhausting her days had been she couldn't get herself to fall asleep. That was the reason why she worked in cafés by day and in pubs by night.

Since she didn't even have a place to stay, at least **that** wasn't as tragic as it sounded.

She found herself staring out to the wide sea right in front of herself while standing between the corsairs.

She shook her head to get hold of her thoughts and then unbuttoned her shirt which she wore closed up to the neck at work by habit. She instantly felt relieved and could finally breathe calmly as she had rolled up her sleeves.

The girl headed over to the harbor walls and climbed up to the lithoidal barrier.

From up here you really did have most of the fresh air for yourself, she thought while standing at the edge with her heels, her long brown hair floating in the wind.

She closed her tired eyes as the sea breeze suddenly coldened.

As noises wafted from the shadows of the houses, she turned her back at the ocean and jumped down the harbor walls. She knew who, or rather **what **was lurking in the shadows behind her and she also knew that it was no good idea for a young woman to loiter around the streets at night. Her steps picked up their pace and she hurriedly hid herself in the shadows between the ships as she noticed the sound of human steps on the cobble right behind her.

Because she wasn't really in the mood to cause a commotion at this late hour she decided to slip into the cellar rooms through the sewage conduits. Nobody would find her out and she needed some time alone for herself since she felt terribly tired.

The girl shooed around the harbor wall and slid down the stairs leading to the docks.

Not a single body was in her eyes reach, so she tampered with the grate which connected to the in-ground sewers.

Calmly, she took the fence out of its anchoring and was about to enter, as she suddenly felt the presence of someone else at her back.

Instantly, she jerked her head around and snatched her eyes open to spot the persons face.

But the only thing for her to see in the shadows of the corsairs was the blurry silhouette that was now quickly moving closer to the direction in which she stood. The girl jumped up on her feet and wanted to take cover but she had to realize that she was standing back-to-back with the harbor wall.

Well, this was more than just inconvenient.

**- Her View -**

I couldn't get away, the scent told me it was a man and that exact man was now standing only a few meters away from me. And to top it off; he was armed.

But so was I!

Without hesitation, I leapt towards the pirate and pulled out my wakizashi* which I had hidden at the outer side of my thighs.

Guess that guy hadn't seen that coming; a helpless girl was just about to attack him, seemed like that was the reason why he didn't take out one of his weapons.

It was a pretty easy task for me; I put my hand onto his chest and pushed him back.

He tried to get back on his feet, stumbled over a barrel that was unfortunately placed and fell with a crashing noise to the hard ground.

I kneeled down on his chest and threatened him with the edge at his throat while pushing down his arms.

"As if I'd let you!" I hissed at him and looked at his face which was now lit by the moonlight.

**- His View –**

Damn it! What the heck was her problem?! Totally flabbergasted and unable to do anything, because she was kind of trying to cut my throat open, I just lay on the ground. I squeezed my eyes shut because the moon just by chance happened to engulf me with this damn fucking flashy light!

But then, I started to see the person on top of me more clearly.

A grin decorated her face which now was less than 10 centimeters away from mine, but then she seemed surprised.

"Roronoa?!" she asked unbelievingly and took her weapon away and let go off my arm.

Bloody fucking time!

While she seemed to have already forgotten that I was still lying crooked between half-crashed barrels and she was literally making herself at home sitting all comfy on my upper body, that damn brat still stared down to my face.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" she asked.

That had to be some bad joke; after all it was **her **sitting on **me**.

"That's what I'd like to ask **you**!"

Still unfazed, she kept staring at me without the intention to get up.

"I thought you'd be a drunk pirate who wanted to do _whatever _- hell if I knew -to me!"

Now she got me confused. So, did she want to tell me **I **had scared the hell outta **her**?!

I blinked my eyes and stared at unbelievably her with wide open mouth.

"Well then, what do you want at this place?" she asked again and pulled me out of my thoughts.

"I…wanted to go swimming…" I replied still perplexed.

"What, at this time?" now it was her who looked down to me in surprise.

"Yeah, any objections?" I answered lightly annoyed.

Again, I could hardy figure out her gaze; I had to look away under her light-green eyes.

This wasn't the time to be chatting; she was still squatting down on me like a cat!

So I just pushed her back with my hands.

"Would you mind getting off me? Not that you're heavy or something, but…-"

Now she stared down to me again but finally stood up after what I had asked her.

"Oh, yeah…yeah…" she murmured rather to herself and pulled me up with her grip on my shirt.

Too friendly..!

She was just looking at me for a short while and then turned around to leave.

"The docks are **that **way" she pointed at the stairs up to the harbor

"Except, you're into paddling in sewage water."

She turned her back at me and was about to disappear into the shadows once again.

"Umm by the way…" I called after her and she shortly stopped.

"Luffy has sworn to himself to take you with him, bet he wouldn't be too happy if you'd do something reckless until we're back again, so be a bit more careful of **where **you're wandering around, especially at night!"

She suddenly flinched and turned around to me.

This look again!

I had to avert my eyes from her face.

"So that offer from your captain earlier was ment seriously?" she asked with an expressionless face.

I wanted to pipe up again, but she was faster.

"Just what kind of a crazy bunch are you?"

…"What?" I asked fuddled.

"First, your captain **invites **me to join your crew with that big foolish grin without even knowing me –"

"Jep…" I chimed in "That's kind of one of his tics."

"And then, a swordsman like you doesn't even try to pull out his swords while he's being attacked?"

"I don't aussault girls, like you are."

Now she furrowed one of her brows and looked over to the crashed barrels.

"And why do you let your opponent run you over that easily?" A sneering undertone made its way to her words and she looked down on me with snotty gaze.

"Should I have stepped aside?" she took breath again and wanted to reply but now I was faster.

"Then it would have probably been **you **who had crashed to the ground." Seemed like she didn't find the right words now.

"I'm not into that kind of thing…" I finished my statement highly satisfied.

But against all prospects she briefly burst out laughing and looked at me with this mischievous expression - **again.**

"Then get me something as proof from _up there_; if you survive that is." She whistled and slid into the shadows, of course not without giving me a last glance.

This way, she now left me behind in the darkness with some questions and had vanished into the shadows.

**- STAGE 2 – END -**

**authors note:**

**I didn't want to update this chapter at first since I've already done so yesterday and I don't want my "stock" of german, non-translated chapters to get "used up" too fast, but I guess it won't hurt to publish this already since I've still got more than 80 pages handwritten and this is the shortest chapter so far. :)**

**well, hope you liked it and a big THAAANK YOOOUUUU! especially for the review a guest sent me ^^**

**see u next STAGE ! ]**


	4. Chapter 3

**Again, some random note at the beginning...Since I don't really have something to say and nothing real interesting happened since my last post...I'll let you off here to read this kind of short chapter :)**

**- STAGE 3 "Bounty hunters" -**

The Strawhats hadn't come back to the bar since that one evening, but it didn't really surprise the young waitress, they had probably already set sail to the ocean in the sky, that's why she didn't further care about it.

She had spent the last 5 days as usual:

In the morning she already got up by dawn and left the village to train in a grove a little more distant from other people. When she noticed how the first people of the island woke up, she returned to the village and entered the café in which she was working every day.

When the sun was about to set she would head over to the pub and served, as the almost only waitress, pirates who most of the time were already drunk.

This was no problem for her since she knew how to deal with their kind and could also defend herself if a pirate would really overdo it and thought he could cause some commotion in her bar.

Evenings like these most of the time ended pretty early for the pirates, because she, as the only female in the pub, did not let them get too close to her and even won one drinking contest after the other. Only late at night she left the pub and went off to some dark corners of the docks, for whatever business she did there.

Just like every other day as the dusk was about to set itself over the island, she was on her way to the bar.

**- Her View –**

I took the usual path on the sideways and climbed over one or two rooftops, from everywhere I could hear the fuss caused by drunk pirates.

Just how in the world was it possible to be drunk like that this early in the evening?! I wondered about while shaking my head.

Several groups of people came to the island, that's what I could perceive even if they were oh so far away from the position I was at this moment.

They were marching on in cadence right next to the capitol.

"The navy? On this island?" I asked myself a little distraught by the fact that the world governments dogs popped up in immediate adjacency to me.

So I picked up the pace and ran through the last alleyway.

But suddenly, I heard loud voices from both sides of the street.

"Hey, you!" I slightly turned around.

"Yeah, you! Come a little closer for a while, will ya?" the voice echoed out of a dead end, but I just slickly ignored it and kept straight on going.

I felt a weak breeze as I suddenly felt the throbbing pain at the back of my head.

For a little moment I staggered and turned around as I could already see the culprit.

Without hesitation I pulled both of the daggers I had for situations like these and dodged another stone that came flying straight to where I was located.

Grimly growling I almost rampaged into the direction of where the stone had been thrown and stabbed the guys' hand since he was about to grab his gun.

But this exact same guy pressed some kind of button while crying out loud whereupon I slit his throat open. Just as I was looking for other opponents, there was a loud bang followed by an explosion. I ducked into the shadows just as I was hit by rocks and almost got buried by parts of a collapsed building.

Shortly after, a hail of bullets broke out in my direction. I got hit by a bullet that grazed my elbow and I could only avoid another gunshot by a hair's breadth.

Those morons only realized they had run out of ammo as it was already too late. I was already standing right between them; before they knew what happened to them, I stabbed 3 of them through their throats, listened to their death rattles and watched as they limply fell to the ground. One of them got stabbed by his own comrades, because I pulled him over myself and used him as a protective shield.

Now, only 4 remained. I decided to hide in the shadows to destroy one of the steel joists over their heads, but I didn't even get this far.

Another rock hit me between shoulder and collarbone and two of those four bastards stood right in front of me. I could feel the hellish impact of their bats on my face and finally crashed into the wall with throbbing pain twitching through one of my cheeks.

I spat blood that flowed out of my damaged oral cavity to the dusty ground and rolled with my eyes totally annoyed.

And as one of those idiots got the splendid idea to grab my hair and pull me up again, my patience crumbled.

"Enough!" I screamed and they all dropped their weapons while stopping right in their movements.

With a stare filled with hatred, I plucked one of the men's chests with my knife and let it tear through flesh until I couldn't feel any resistance anymore.

Another two of them got sent to the ground with a kick in the gut and as I faced the last one to ask what this was all about, he fell to my feet with looks filled with anxiety and tried to escape by crawling away on his knees.

"As if I'd let you, **brat**!" I hissed enraged and slammed his head into the ground until he stopped moving.

Still in rage I stood up and took a look at the scene in which I had just ravaged.

I'd better get off here before anyone would tattle me to the navy…

I turned to go as some random warrant of apprehension lying half buried by rubble caught my attention.

I picked up that tattered piece of dusty paper and held it in front of my eyes.

It displayed a totally up-to-date picture of no other than myself.

"Nothing new…" I murmured at first, but then it hit me hard like a punch to my face.

"What?! 180 million Berry?!" disbelieving I stared at the scrap of paper.

"Fuck…!" I forced out by grinding my teeth.

The bounty set on my head had gone up, which meant…

I had to leave the island.

In an instant my rage vanished and changed into a bitter smile.

"Sorry, Roronoa…but if you come back, I won't exist on this island anymore…"

This would be the last evening I spent on this freckle of land.

- **Stage 3 "Bounty hunters" - END -**

**authors note:**

**I still don't get the difference between only writing some notes at the beginning without labeling it as "authors note" like I do at the end of every chapter...**

**someone help me understand that crappy brain and logic of mine :O**

**...and as always: Shanks for reading, hope you liked it and see u next stage! (see what I did there? Thanks = Shanks yohohohoooo...damn it I should get some professional to help me.)**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hey guys, guess it's time for some random authors notes in the beginning! Yaaay!**

**...okay I guess I've got nothing interesting to tell you guys...except that school starts tomorrow again and I didn't do anything and I really don't want to go and I'm going crazy and and and and aaaand!**

**- Stage 4 "joining with complications" –**

**- ZORO'S VIEW –**

Finally! I could already see the island from this distance.

We had escaped the navy only by a hairs breadth this time and were now heading towards that freckle of land as fast as our battered ship allowed us.

Since Luffy seemed to want to stay on the island for this evening, I'd be allowed to get something to drink, wouldn't I? That's why I was kinda happy as we headed straight to the bar as we had settled at the harbor.

Only I, Luffy and the shitty cook had gone on solid grounds because the remaining crew was already preparing the ship, if it came to complications in town.

The captain pushed open the saloon-doors and entered the bar first.

What awaited us there was hard to put in words, even to an extent that Luffy dropped his jaw.

On the walls, on the floor, yes, even on the ceiling; there were sticky smears out which foul-smelling drops of alcohol seeped to the floor.

Every freckle in the pub was covered with broken fragments of glass, splintered bottles and barrels. The only thing able to make this first impression even crazier were the countless pirates who lay piled up in their own booze, or leaned sleeping against the walls. It reeked of alcohol to such an extent that the cook gulped heavily and even I could only push myself to a tense grin.

"WOOOOOOOOOW!" Luffy screamed in excitement while a wide grin cocked his cheeks.

My overwhelmed state due to this scenery had finally settled and it was only now, that I came to notice it. Notice HER.

She sat with crossed legs on the back of an already collapsed pirate and emptied a bottle of rum, which she afterwards crushed on an extremely drunk pirates head.

Everywhere around her stood empty jars of beer, which had almost been perfectly stapled.

He had such a bigheaded and bitchy stance, that she almost seemed like the "queen" of her drunk "underlings".

As the cook moved another step into the pub, she rose up her head, kicked away the pirate on which she had before put her right foot while standing up and rested her hands on her hips.

"Hoshi-chan?!" the shitty cook said aghast.

So **this **was her name, good to know.

Her blank gaze changed into awareness.

"Ah, Sanji…" she came closer to us.

"Haven't I told you to better not lose your way to here with your dartboard-brows again?" I just **had **to grin.

But now, that I looked at her more precisely, I noticed that she wasn't wearing her usual cloth for work.

Her black, tight top was torn apart at a few places and her light colored hot pants were covered in blood and dust. Her long hair was a bit messy and went down to her waist in long streaks. Her face was "decorated" by a few bloody scratches, her lip had swollen up and her left cheek was patched up.

But the last thing that caught my eye was her shoulders and her neck which were concealed by bandages.

Just what the bloody hell had happened in the short time we hadn't been here?!

"Shi-chan!" the shitty cook yelled horrified and took the words out of my mouth.

"What kind of bastard did this to you?!" his face was now smoldering, as always if he didn't agree on something concerning a woman.

But Hoshi only looked around the bar for a short while and waved aside by shaking her head.

"Well pirates these days just can't bear any alcohol!" did she just act this dumb or **was **she such an idiot?!

"I didn't mean the pub!" the cook was now shaking her shoulders.

But she didn't answer.

She only slapped his hands off at gazed at us with a crooked smirk.

"And what about you? Can at least anyone of you take a joke?" I looked at her totally flabbergasted.

"Wahaha!" Luffy laughed.

"Of course! Just come on our ship along with us and we'll throw a party!"

But she only backed away from the shitty cook, who had most preferably jumped at her.

"No…" The gaze Hoshi gave us froze and she stepped back several steps more.

"And you'd be better off leaving now."

I heard loud noises of footsteps and nervous voices coming from outside the pub. Even before Luffy, I or anyone else could reply, burning missiles came crashing through the windows.

"It might get a bit uncomfortable!" she ended her sentence with a bitter expression.

The doors flew open and we were cornered.

Fifty barrels of guns were pointed straight at Hoshi.

"Surrender! We've surrounded the whole building!"

.fuck! That was the only thing that came to my mind. Luffy put himself into a fighting position, the cook jumped n front of the girl which was staring at the navy with angry eyes and I pulled out my swords.

But before I could even move an inch, a naval officer stood behind Hoshi and held his word against her neck and pointed a gun in front of our faces.

"…tch…Damn!" the girl growled and tried to somehow get that officer away from her.

"Let her go! She's gonna join **my **crew!" Luffy screamed and activated his devils fruit.

I too, stormed forward.

"Wait…!" she screeched, but we didn't stop, even as the naval officer kicked her in our direction and pulled the trigger.

"STOP!" and within the blink of an eye, the time seemed to stay still.

"How often…" her voice was shaking with anger as she was rising up with an expression overflowing with hatred.

"Just how often have I told you to let your fucking weapons stay at **your** sides?" Now, I really didn't understand **any of it**.

The naval officer controlled himself as first and tried to get hold of her again.

But she only lifted her hand and glared at him in total rage.

I could almost feel the air sizzle.

The first ones of the navy fell to the floor and all the lights inside the room burst.

Even we couldn't move.

The glasses in the room crashed and the windows splintered as even the last naval officer lost consciousness.

What the bloody fuck was happening here?!

The naval officer tried to lift his gun again and winced in pain and as Hoshi closed her fist, he finally collapsed.

The pub was burning incontinently in the meantime and was completely filled with smoke.

"What the-"Luffy started, but the girl jerked her head around stared at us and screamed through all the flames:

"Come on, get out of here!" without any of us realizing what happened in here, the cook and Luffy ran out of the building that was steadily falling apart.

Only I was able to withstand the tension that built up.

"Just what are you doing?" I asked her overexerted while drops of sweat streamed down my temples.

"Just leave!" she replied, her voice shaking. A shockwave, which seemed to emanate from her, engulfed me and I finally ran out of the bar.

You could hear a loud cracking noise and a following gunshot. Then the whole building burst and went up in flames. The only thing we could do was staring at the burning pile of splintered wooden planks in horror.

"Hoshi-chan!" the cook roared and ran back.

"Idiot!" I screamed after him as suddenly, the girl came flying out of the flames, dived away from the pub and came to a rest between us while panting hard.

She had to settle down for a moment, gazed at our captain and hissed:

"And now let's get away from here before the gas explodes!"

She didn't have to tell us twice.

I looked back once again and she grabbed the sleeve of my shirt as she pulled me with her.

"Let's go." Her completely calm voice confused me.

We ran around the harbor wall as the remaining crew pulled up the anchor.

Luffy, Sanji and I jumped on deck without hesitation, but the girl stood, without moving, on the harbor wall.

"Hoshi-chan!" the cook called out to her but the only thing she did was glare at us aghast.

" .way!"

But Luffy only laughed her off and grabbed her waist.

"What the…-NO!"

"Too late!" I grinned and watched as Hoshi twirled through the air and landed a little ungentle on board right in front of me.

She coughed the smoke out of her lungs for a moment and then pulled herself up on her feet at the railing.

With an annoyed look she stared at each and every one of us.

"Soo…will you come with us now?" Luffy asked still smiling brightly.

She was just about to reply, as a gigantic BANG! Came from direction of the city.

Totally helpless, Hoshi had to watch the pub finally go up in flames completely.

"I…guess there's nothing else left for me anymore…"

She now replied, still facing the flames.

**- Stage 4"Joining with complications" – END -**

**authors noooooote (biatch!):**

**hope this is some kind of a longer chapter than the ones before this.**

**..If not i still got some space left to fill with random authors nooootes!**

**okay, but I wont spam every single end of the page with this crappy stuff, it's not even funny ^^**

**As alway thx for reading, for reviews, favs etc.**

**Hope u liked it and see u next stage!**


	6. Chapter 5

**...ookay...I didn't think the first week after autumn break would be this awful, .fuck!**

**...damn it -.-**

**I get home after 4 pm and get up at 6:15 am in the bloody fucking morning! For four times per week! on fridays I get home a lil bit earlier but this isn't helping at all :O**

**Sorry for letting you wait for this long.**

**- Stage 5 "Tension" -**

The only thing the Strawhats could do was watch as Hoshi stared into the burning flames, while she kept her hands on the railing. Actually, the bar, just like everything else on the island hadn't meant anything to her. She was just caught in her thoughts to an extent where she didn't even realize how she was staring back.

"Umm…- Hoshi-chan?" she turned around to where the voice had come from.

"You okay?" the cook asked.

With a questioning gaze she looked at the remaining crew.

The she slowly lowered her head while smiling and stepped away from the railing.

"Of course, why should I not?"

The Strawhats introduced themselves one after the other more or less energetic.

"Welcome to the crew!" Nami said to her.

"Nami?" Luffy inquired "Would you show her around?"

"Sure!" she answered grabbed Hoshis hand and pulled her under deck along with herself.

"For starters, you'll need a nice shower! For fresh clothes you'll get mine!"

Then they were gone.

Sanji went off to the kitchen since Luffy was bugging him for something edible. Zoro disappeared to somewhere on board since he wanted to train, Robin had followed Nami and Chopper was happily jumping, because the crew had gained another nakama, to the kitchen, out of which was now coming the scent of food, alongside with Usopp.

**- Hoshis View -**

I was so damn grateful to be standing under a hot shower.

I just enjoyed the pleasant felling of water which ran down the skin of my tense body.

Indeed I could smell the scent of food even in here, but I didn't have any appetite so I just took my time to relax.

After half an eternity, I stopped the water and stepped out of the shower still soaking wet.

Without having to search all that long, I found a towel and wiped my face dry.

"Ah…" I automatically hissed as I felt the throbbing pain twitch through my cheek.

I stepped in front of that gigantic mirror to get a closer look on all of the wounds.

The patches on temple and face had come off and could no longer cover the lacerated places which looked pretty bad. Hurriedly I covered my forehead with my bangs and tried to find some band-aid in the bathroom.

Since I couldn't find any I just left it how it was and decided to tell the others the bruises were a result of the explosion from before. Luckily, the bandages around my neck and shoulders hadn't come loose; I'd better spare the crew from seeing what was underneath.

Lastly I turned away from the mirror and put on the clothes Nami had given to me.

The hot pants almost fit at least, but the T-shirt was way too big. I was smaller after all and before all things I wasn't as busty as that navigator was. But I guessed it would almost look the same with Robin's clothes, I had to smirk at the thought of it.

Barefooted I left the bathroom and went more or less according to plan through the ships unlit corridors. Most of the Strawhats were under deck or were already sleeping. But that was just perfectly fine with me, I thought while stepping outside.

I filled my lungs with the fresh night breeze and went towards the staircase which led down to the mast. I was just about to put a foot on the first stair as something suddenly laid down right at my feet and blocked the way down.

I stopped breathing and then was relieved as I noticed it was just the swordsman who slept sprawled across the stairs.

I watched his face for a moment to make sure that he was really asleep and then had to smile automatically as his eyes were shut and he laid there safe and sound.

"Heh…Can sleep everywhere, huh…?" I murmured and carefully hiked over his upper body so I would by no means wake him up accidentally.

So I walked down the staircase and walked on the wooden planks a little clumsy since my legs were a bit shaky.

What a hell of a day this had been!

**- Zoros View –**

The creaking sound of a door and quiet footsteps awoke me from my sleep. I blinked my eyes and noticed in surprised that it was in the middle of the night.

"Didn't I just take a nap here..?" I murmured still half asleep as the steps came closer.

It had to be someone of the crew, most likely Luffy who was hungry. Still these footsteps were **way **too gentle so I stayed down with my back leaned on the hand rail.

It was Hoshi, what was she doing here? Shouldn't she already be sleeping? I could feel her gaze on me as she stood in front of me, bet she thought I'd be asleep.

The girl snickered and then climbed, without touching me, over my upper body and walked down the remaining stairs.

I shut my eyes open again and laid the head into my neck to see what exactly she was doing.

She was walking wobbly towards the railing, seemed like she wasn't used to the swinging movements of the ship yet.

"Hoshi-chan?" a voice suddenly piped up from the door below the stairs.

She turned around to face the person to whom the voice belonged and then smiled against all my expectations.

"Sanji-san…" Waait! She didn't address that shitty cook with an honorific just now. …right?!

What the hell was he doing here anyway?!

He was now walking past her to the railing and looked at her while leaning onto the wooden fence.

I had never seen that cook look that way before.

Hoshi was now coming his way and climbed on to the railing where she stepped forward until she barely stood at the edge.

It felt like 10 minutes had passed in which those two were facing towards the east and just kept silence at each other.

This surely had to be Sanji's personal record for not leering at a woman's butt or breaking out into heavy nosebleeds.

"Hoshi-chan?" he asked once more.

She kept staring at the untouched sea.

"Did you come out here because you can't sleep again?"

Ugh…Just what kind of a tear-jerker had I gotten into?!

She didn't answer and only smiled without looking at him.

I almost regretted to pretend to be asleep.

"How's that old geezer, Zeff? Did he still curse me even after 3 days had passed?"

She looked down to him and smirked slightly annoyed.

"3 days? **The whole week** he was swearing at you and kept bad-mouthing that crappy face of yours!"

The shitty cook shortly burst out laughing.

"How's he been?"

"No idea…" she replied and stared out to the sea again.

"I headed to RogueTown shortly after you did…What happened to him afterwards…I don't know."

As the cook gave her a questioning look, she continued while shaking her head.

"But looking at how hard he let me do his work, he must've felt pretty damn good, that fucking old geezer!"

Both of them slightly grinned after that statement, which was the reason that I had liked to jump up and cough out loud.

"Indeed…" she began her sentence thoughtful.

"He has lost his best waitress and two of his best newcomer-cooks…so I hope the Baratie won't go down after that."…oh, so it was like **that**?! Seemed like she had worked there too…well everything made sense now.

"Well, of course…!" the cook scoffed.

"He must've been soo damn sad after we left…"

"Heh! You wished?" she asked provocative.

"No, as if he'd ever be sad for me…" the Blondie smirked while shaking his head.

"That's right, that's were I came in…!" Hoshi countered with a bitter undertone.

"Must've been pretty tough for that geezer to see you leave like that."

"I've always only been that little, innocent and helpless girl." She snapped.

"You're his adopted daughter after all…you where way more than just some little girl to him." Now I listened up.

So this chef indeed **was** her father?! Now that finally explained why the shitty cook and Hoshi seemed to know each other for quite a while.

"What was that about in town earlier?" the cook interrupted my thoughts with his serious voice.

"Why the hell were all those naval soldiers and even a naval officer after you?" well that was a pretty good question, wasn't it?

Hoshi now stared at the cook with a blank face so I wondered how he was still able to keep looking at her.

With a bitter smile, the girl pulled out a crumpled piece of paper out of her pocket and gave it to him. With wide open eyes the shitty cook stared on the scrap of paper in his hands.

"Wow…" that seemed to be the only thing that idiot had to say. I didn't get what they were talking about now.

"Yeah…" she said and was now balancing with unsteady footing over the balustrade which was why the gaze of the cook rested on her.

"My bounty hay risen up by 80 million berry in these past 3 months!" Now I understood why that shitty cook had been in shock as he had looked on to the paper, well after all this was more than I had on my head **in total**!

"Damn it, what did you do this time?!" well that's what **I** wanted to know!

Hoshi stopped abruptly, looked up to the starry sky and then replied with an expressionless voice: "You know me, I literally allure trouble."

"But this-"the cook stopped.

"So you're working for those bounty hunters after all?"

She kept silent.

"Hoshi-chan!" now he seemed to be upset.

"On this it says demon fortress 'Ashura' !"

What?

Waait a moment, so she was **this **dangerous? I knew she must have had some creepy abilities, but to go as far as to even call her a queen of fucking demons?

"That's just a name the so-called world government gave me!" she replied a bit louder.

"But not without a reason!"

She kept silent again.

"Hoshi!" the cook snarled at her with his pretty pissed voice.

"What?!" she growled and sapped around.

"I'm no kid anymore, so what is it that you want?!"

Instantly I felt it again, this was the same back-breaking sensation from earlier with the navy this day. It felt as if the entire air around was filling up with tension. The hair on my neck rose and I had jumped up from the staircase.

The cook seemed to drown in this tension which seemed to emanate from the girl while she herself was literally growing like a demon in front of him.

"Just stop it!" he snarled at her again.

"WITH WHAT?!" she screeched with her voice overflowing with hatred.

I stood on the stairs unable to move and watched how the, with tension filled air, was floating around her.

"Calm down, Hoshi…" the cook told her placid.

She stared down on him.

"You'd better go to bed…" she murmured as the tension lessened a bit and turned her face away from him.

"Don't stay out here for too long, alone…" the cook replied, smiled in her direction and then went off to the inside of the ship.

Yet, nobody had noticed me.

Hoshi had jumped down the railing and now clutched her hands on the balustrade.

The entire tension that had built up suddenly collapsed in an instant and disappeared immediately.

It let go off me too and I was finally able to keep on breathing.

But Hoshi slid down the railing and crouched down on the wooden planks while shivering heavily.

"Ugh…." She suddenly pressed through her teeth.

Totally perplexed I stayed where I was, she wasn't crying now, was she?!

I had subconsciously stepped down the staircase and just as I was thinking about what I should do in situations like these, she winced.

While coughing, she tried to get up and pressed out a painful "D-damn…it…!" right before she grabbed at her neck with shivering grip and kept pressing her other hand tightly to her chest.

Something was terribly wrong here!

I didn't hesitate any longer, although I knew that if she noticed me now, she'd realize I had been watching all of what had happened between her and the cook.

By now she was leaning with her eyes closed on to the railing while panting heavily and giving a wince of pain. She didn't hear as I came closer to her not even as I called her name.

I decided to bring her to chopper and grabbed her shoulders. At the sudden contact she flinched in shock and glared at me with bloodshot eyes.

"Z-Zoro?" she asked unbelievingly and caved in relieved again.

"Damn it…!" she cursed through clenched teeth.

"Come here, Chopper should give this a look…" -Whatever it was that she lacked- I summoned her.

But she only slapped my hands off and gave me a completely calm gaze.

"Calm down, it's not like I'm dying or anything…" I must've stared with a look close to a garbage can; what the fuck was it now?!

She straightened her back and supported her body while holding on to the balustrade while I was still standing right in front of her and kept staring down to her.

"You…are bleeding." I noticed vacuous as blood came running down from the corner of her mouth.

Confused she felt her swollen up lip and wiped the blood off her mouth.

"Guess because of this…" she murmured and laid her fingers carefully on her swollen cheek.

**Of Course …!** I thought.

She smiled and was just about to say something as her facial expression force and she bent forward.

I crabbed her shoulders since I had no fucking plan what to so. This time she didn't struggle any further and took her hand off her ribcage.

"What the fuck-"she cursed as she looked at her blood stained fingers.

"How is…this…-?" she asked as she lowered her arms and looked up to me.

I kept staring at all this blood that had covered the floor with a deep red colored puddle as I tried to somehow stop the bleeding with the palm of my hand.

I noticed how her face winced in pain and all expressions went blank.

"We'd better hurry!" I said to her and tried to lift her up without causing even more pain.

"W-wait!" she gasped for air.

"L-let me walk on my own-"

She clutched her hands on to my shirt and braced herself while staggering to the staircase.

"Are you trying to fucking kill yourself?!" I screamed, grabbed her back and lifted her up.

"Ugh!" she hissed painfully but couldn't resist anymore since she didn't have any strength left.

In the meantime she was only shivering and almost wasn't breathing anymore.

"Fuck-!" I cursed as I raced up the stairs.

"CHOPPER!" I screamed and almost wrenched the door to the inner part of the ship out of its frame.

**- Stage 5 "Tension" - END -**

**Authors nooooooote (...biatch!) :**

**Hope you liked this chapter although I was slacking off this week by posting a new chapter waaay too late.**

**I'd better not let that happen again *sweats***

**Since I've got nothing intresting to tell you guys, I'll just let you off and hope u liked this chapter :)**

**As always: Shanks for reading and see you in a few days (I hope...). :D**


	7. Chapter 6

**...About fuck*ng time I uploaded this. It's been 3 weeks!**

**...Or so, I don't even know anymore. But yeah...I'm not in the mood to explain it, so enjoy :P**

**- Stage 6 "SCARS" –**

Zoro ran through the ships' hallways in direction of Choppers clinical room.

Hoshi, who was clasped by Zoros arms, strained herself to breathe and winced her body in pain.

"Chopper!" the swordsman roared bloody murder "Come her, HURRY UP!"

He stared down at Hoshis pale face; her head leant powerless on his chest and blood oozed out of the corners of her mouth again.

If she didn't make it now, it'd be **his **fault.

"…What's wrong ….Zoro?" the tiny reindeer murmured and rubbed his eyes still half asleep.

"What is…Hoshi?" his look froze and he tore open the door to his doctor's office.

**- Zoros View -**

"Zoro hurry!" I followed him into the room and put Hoshi down on the treatment table as carefully as I could. Chopper instantly connected her to the blood supply device and started to ask me questions.

"How did this happen?"

I tried to remember, but I couldn't recall why she'd be lying there spitting blood.

"I don't know!"

"But something just **must **have happened!" the doctor called in question and began to check her body for eventual wounds. Then I remembered.

I pointed at her ribcage, which was going up and down terribly fast.

"She suddenly started to bleed! Take a closer look at her ribs!"

Without hesitation, the reindeer scurried over to my side and looked at her ribcage.

"…Zoro, you have to cut away her clothes, I can't see anything as it is!"

I did as he told me and slit open the cloth at the side of her chest.

'Pretty sorry, little one, but I have to do this!' I thought.

Chopper instructed me to get cleaned rags to wash away the blood.

And as we did so, a deep wound caught my eye. A huge fracture went from her upper ribs down to right over her navel.

"Oh Fuck-!" I cursed as fresh blood flowed out of the crack instantly.

Chopper pushed me aside and started to disinfect the wound and tried to stitch it together somehow. I stared magnetized at the doctor and waited.

Chopper was about to wrap bandages around her ribcage, I lifted her up slightly as her body clenched again at the contact.

Just as I had put her down again, the door slammed open and Luffy, closely followed by Sanji, Nami, Robin and Usopp stormed into the treatment room.

"What the-"our captain stared at the blood soaked table.

Nami covered her face with her hands, Robin's facial expression went blank and Usopp started to scream. Only Sanji, whose face was in blank horror kept calm and pushed the remaining crew out to the corridor, yelled at them to stay silent and slammed the door shut right in front of their faces.

"What's wrong with her?" Chopper kept silent.

The cook stared at the pulse-displaying device, which was terribly low, as he then screamed at me.

"What happened to her, Zoro?!"

What the FUCK did he want?!

As I had already told them, I had no bloody idea just **what** was wrong with her.

"Damn it! Like hell I know! I only found her collapsed on deck because she started to bleed!"

I stared at him in rage.

So what?!- Was it **my** mistake now?!

"Would you mind stopping this? **Both** of you…?!" the reindeer stated serious "She needs to rest…"

The cook grabbed her hand in sorrow.

"Hoshi-chan…" he murmured with pain filled voice. I turned away in disgust.

"Well then, I'd better get going…" I groaned without getting any reply.

Wait. I turned around in the door case and stepped next to the shitty cook again.

"What are those rings, Sanji?!" he stared at me in complete confusion.

"On her hand, idiot!" now he gave a closer look at her pale hand which he still held in his bigger one.

"That's…Sea stone…?" Now it "clicked" in my head.

I took her hand and nearly tore the rings off her cold slender fingers.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" the shitty cook yelled at me.

But I only stared down to the injured girl in disbelief. I just didn't believe this!

"She…ate a devils fruit and still was wearing them…I guess." I explained and held the two, poison green rings in front of the doctors' face.

"What?!...But…" the cook stammered with horrified look.

"She still has…used her powers, more than just once just now…!" I ended the sentence.

"H-Hoshi…-chan?" the cook muttered a little sad.

I looked at her…Her face was lying on the side distorted by pain.

Just what was her ability? Electricity? Tension?

I didn't get it, but the thing that bugged me the most was the fact that she had still been able to activate her powers although she was wearing sea stone rings right on her skin…

But this still did not by any means explain what had caused her injuries.

After a while, she had finally settled down and seemed to be asleep. She was breathing a lot more calm and as Chopper told us, her pulse was still way too long but stable –at least- the cook left the doctors' office to involve the remaining crew into what had happened.

Dawn was already breaking and I decided to take my leave too.

"Ah! Zoro, wait a bit!" the tiny reindeer jumped off his chair and placed some kind of crumpled piece of paper into my hand.

"This might interest Luffy and the others."

It was her wanted poster, according to which her bounty was 180million berry.

"Could you ask Nami or Robin for a new set of clothes for her?"

I nodded and looked back to Hoshi once more.

Her eyes were shut tightly, but because of the lacerated flesh on her cheek and the bandages on neck and shoulders, she looked anything but peaceful, just what kind of situation had she been in?

"Zoro..." I stopped in the door frame again at Choppers serious voice

"…Actually, she shouldn't have made it this far…" I stared at him.

"She had already lost way too much blood…!" I gulped.

"It's only because of her own will to survive that she made it!"

My eyes darkened at the sound of his words.

"If you hadn't been with her earlier, she'd have bled to death."

Now I had to face the tiny reindeer.

He had placed his hand carefully on her shoulders and smiled at me.

"And now...go get a damn shower!" I gaped in disbelief.

"You were even more covered in blood as she was, as you came n."

Grinning widely I left the treatment room and headed over to the bathroom.

**- Zoros View – END –**

A little time later, Chopper joined the remaining crew and told them that Hoshi's state had finally stabilized.

"What's wrong with her?!" Luffy screamed at him in question.

Ad if they were under a spell, the Strawhats stared at their doctor.

"She suffers from grave internal bleeding and as I tried to take off the bandages around her neck, her pulse got insecure again and she almost fell into a coma.

That's why I didn't get an opportunity to check for other injuries yet…

But…I now know, what caused her severe bleeding!"

The Strawhats stared at him full of expectation.

"It was not the fracture itself where the blood gushed out of…" he looked over to Zoro who furrowed his brows.

"But 2 Sea stone missiles that have crushed 4 of her ribs…!"

Usopp dropped his jaw, Luffy seemed to lack the ability to speak and in total rage at the same time.

"But where did they come from?!" Chopper couldn't find an explanation for it that fast.

Most probably she took those two gunshots fired by that naval officer… Zoro pondered.

"…In addition to that, her lung was triturated, she won't be able to breathe properly for a little while, so try to not upset her too much, okay?!" he asked emphatically and looked especially at Luffy.

The next few days passed without something special happening; the captain had seen the wanted poster and announced with pride in his voice, that there'd be a feast when Hoshi was back on her feet again.

However, this should take several days since Hoshi still hadn't woken up even after 5 days had passed.

The Strawhats were already on target for the next island; 'Water Seven', the city of water.

During all those days on deck, there had always been someone from the Crew visiting Hoshi.

In the evening, it was mostly Chopper who was refreshing her bandages and telling her about all the trivial things that had happened on his day, while she was still asleep.

Sanji most preferably walked into her room early in the morning to check if she was finally awake and needed anything, but that never happened.

But most of all, it was Robin who sat on the chair next to the girls' bed and read one of her books or looked through the newspaper. She sometimes stayed the whole day by her side and only left the treatment room late in the afternoon to watch the sunset on deck.

Even Zoro happened to bump into the room more than just for once in search of Chopper who needed his help for some insignificant things.

If Sanji or anyone else was already in the room, Zoro almost instantly left again, if there was no one inside except for him and Hoshi, he stayed and kept watching over her contemplative while she was sleeping soundly.

But this happened rather seldom since he tended to just doze off because there was no one around bugging him.

On the 6th day that Hoshi had slept, Robin stayed until late into the night as she noticed the change of the girls' pulse.

But since she still didn't want to wake up, the archaeologist went to bed, not without drawing the drapes on the window shut and turning off the light - of course.  
Only as she didn't hear any sound of the footsteps echoing into the treatment room, Hoshi awakened.

**- Hoshi's View –**

Now even Robin had finally left the room which I was in.

I didn't know where exactly I was, what time it was or which date it already was by now.

It was pitch black in here.

No window was opened and from somewhere a penetrant Beep! –Beep! was causing my head to ache again.

As I straightened out my back and lifted myself out of the bed at least a bit spirited, I could all of a sudden hear voices drawing closer to me from everywhere around that seemed to crush me.

I seized my head and squeezed my hands over my ears; I had to get out of here!

I found the door, stumbled through it and felt my way to the exit with my hands sliding over the walls of the corridor as if I had gone blind.

The voices were now pressing into my head even from under and above me, I couldn't figure out any associated words that would make a complete sentence and thus came to the conclusion that my Crew had to be asleep.

Barefooted and dressed up a bit too free for these circumstances, I finally staggered through the exit on deck and hurriedly slammed the door shut, hoping that could make the voices disappear too.

Although I clearly knew that I only wore bandages wrapped around my chest except for those cutty shorts, I didn't care about the fact that I was barely dressed and thus half naked.

Only the freedom mattered to me that finally surrounded me as I stared up to the starlit night sky that completely engulfed me.

The chill on the outside didn't bother me at all compared to the crushing warmth on the inside of that room I had found myself in as I awakened after how-many-days-ever it had been.

I now doddered towards the stairs; my head was buzzing heavily and made it hard to see clearly.

I stumbled, because I could hardly see anything, tried to reach out my hands to something I could grab, lost my balance as that damned gravitation pulled the rug out from under my feet.

The percussion of my collision with the ground in front of the lower end of the stairs sent heavy pain through my body.

I had no plan on **what **exactly I had landed on but it was at least a bit softer than the wooden planks.

After all the crash had been this hard so my lungs just decided to stop functioning at first and the breath shut off promptly that I could only stay limp were I lay right now.

In addition, something was blocking my back.

At my right ear, I heard something like the sound of a muffled drum.

It was a heartbeat; a pretty fast one to boot.

I just wondered about **whom **I was lying on and lifted my head at the same time along with that person.

**- Zoro's View -**

I could only feel how something grazed my arm and then I already found myself on these fucking damn hard wooden planks.

Judging by the smell, it must've been a woman, which was why I instinctively tried to somehow strut apart the fall.

Now I was lying, with half-angled legs, pushed to the hard floor with some random person on top of me.

I didn't know who it was, but he- or rather **she** wasn't moving, so I lifted up my head and stared right into two biliously green cat-eyes, which looked at me a bit confused.

Hoshi?!

Since when was she awake?! Was she even allowed to be up and walking around the ship in the first place?!

"You okay?"…fucken awesome reaction, mister idiot! Couldn't think of anything better, could ya?!

-But anyway-

She only gave me a forced nod as an answer and tried to get up. As she wasn't able to, she sank back with her head to my chest again and lay still again not able to move any firther.

…So she **did** sneak out of her bed.

"Sorry, Zoro…" she murmured more into my shirt than to me.

I just stayed where I was at first; lying on the floor and thinking about how I should lift her off of me.

"…Why did you even go outside if you can barely move…?" I asked her.

"Too many noises…" she murmured a bit off track.

I didn't really understand this.

"You can't move even a little?" I asked instead and looked at her.

"No…not one bit…!" Hoshi muttered and failed at the attempt to reinforce her arm.

I carefully grabbed her waist and pulled myself up with my other hand holding on to the stair-rail.

Now she was barely sitting on top of my thighs and exhaled with a hissing sound like she was in pain.

With intensely furrowed eyebrows, she grasped her head a bit uncoordinated; seemed like he wasn't fully awake. I kept hold of her hip and shoulders so she wouldn't fall over again.

"Damn it…" She cursed.

"You'd better have let stuck those bullets…!" I stared at her aghast.

"Then you'd probably be dead now!"

Thereupon she stared at me in confusion.

"Take a look at you…" I replied and pointed at her almost naked upper body.

With an unexplainable gaze, she stared at the long fracture, which hadn't been covered with bandages, since that would've hindered the wound to heal.

"Oh…" she bluntly uttered and touched the wide open lacerated flesh.

"Then you could've at least let me keep the sea stone rings!", she said and gazed at me with serious eyes.

So she had worn them on purpose?!

"Are you saying this because you've already gotten used to wounds like these?" I inquired in sharp tone where after she reached with the hand for her neck in shock.

She glared at me.

"Too late." I said "Those bandages have come lose for quite a while now."

She still stared at me in disbelief, so I just grabbed her arms and pulled her up without a warning.

"What have you been doing before we met?" I asked her.

"Who else did you piss off than just the navy?" Now she had gotten hold of herself again and stepped even closer to me.

Barely 5 centimeters were between us.

She looked at me with an empty gaze.

"And you?" she asked now, I didn't really get what she meant by that and kept giving her a questioning look.

Without letting an expression cross her pale face, she lifted up her hand and laid it right onto the center of my chest.

Without saying a word, she stared at her spread out hand.

I could barely move under her touch and simply stared at her since I had no idea what the hell she was talking about- or rather what the heck she was doing there exactly.

"Why is your heart still racing…?" she asked completely calm and stared right into my eyes.

…What...?!

"Is it because you didn't expect someone to suddenly wake you up like that?" she gave me a questioning look through her rigid green eyes. Now I even held my breath; what the bloody fuck was I doing?!

"…Or" she continued with her head tilted to the side"is it because of the shock?"

Almost choking under her gaze, I was only waiting for the tension to crush me that would normally emanate from her in situations like this.

But nothing like that happened.

I stared at her confused and as I still wasn't answering, she let her hand lower again.

While shaking her head, she stepped back a bit and turned to go.

But I grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to me again. She gave me a questioning look, but I only ignored it…

"We…have met before." I replied with furrowed brows.

"Well of course! I've been on your ship for some week after all!" she sneered at me.

"No." I continued "Before that!"

Now she just let her resistance slip away and let her empty eyes stare at me emotionless again.

"In RogueTown, 3 months ago!"

"Well definitely…!" she muttered and wrenched out of my grip.

"In this huge crowd of random people, it was **you** of all of them who saw and recognized me?!"…Well she wasn't wrong with that…

But I was sure it had been her, her and nobody else!

With quick steps I went towards her again and built up with whole height right in front of her; she was almost a heads' length smaller that me now.

She glared up to me a bit confused and kept drawing back several steps more until she felt the balustrade at her back.

I confronted her again and brushed away the few strands of her bangs that covered her face to get a look at her forehead. Although she gave a jerk and wanted to get away from me as I touched her, I bluntly ignored it and pointed at the laceration wounds that tore open her temple.

"And this?" I asked her energetic whereupon she seemed to consider jumping over the railing to avoid me, even if it meant she'd have to get into water.

But I didn't give her the time to think any further.

"This wound, you got it from that raging mob that pursuit you!"

Now she almost stared up to me in horror while my hand still rested on her face.

"Z-Zoro…?" her eyes were reflecting shock.

I looked down to her with a questioning gaze.

Then I realized it.

I had pushed her against the wall, with one hand resting next to her hip on the balustrade I stood in closest nearness right in front of her.

She stood a bit squashed with her back on the ailing and her upper body leaning over the farthest edge of the ship.

Moreover, it was my upper body that caused her to evade backwards, since I myself was leaning over the balustrade.

In an instant, my head heated up and started to take a bright red color.

I stumbled backwards while I pulled back my hand.

"Sorry…" I muttered with a head as red as a tomato and kept avoiding her perplexed gaze.

I had expected a rant filled with the worst dirty words that could come to her mind, but that exactly did not happen. Instead I heard a creaking noise and as I looked back at her again, she was sitting on top of the railing and gave me a sign with her head.

At first I kept standing there as if I had turned to stone until I got what her gesture meant.

Slowly, I walked closer to her again I leant over the balustrade right next to her.

As she didn't say anything else, I avert my eyes off her and stared at the waves that were softly moving in the breeze.

I felt her hand on my shoulder and as I looked at her, she was standing on top of the railing with view of the vast ocean.

"It was a rock, by the way…" she said out of the blue and started to walk over the balustrade.

"…What?"

"Those people threw rocks at me…" she replied and pointed at her scarred forehead while turning around.

Then she turned her back at me and continued her path over the railing with shaky legs.

I kept following her; just in case she'd completely lose her balance and fell off the ship into the water.

"Shouldn't you better be going to Chopper's treatment room again?" I asked her as she started to walk a lot more unsteady all of a sudden.

She looked down to me and shook her head.

"Certainly not!" she answered.

"If you keep staggering around like that you won't have a choice." I said and she slowed down for a second.

"Ah well, if you say so…" she replied as if it was nothing and went on unperturbed.

"I'll take care of that…" I said and walked next to her over the wooden planks on deck of the ship.

"Of what…?" She inquired absent minded.

I stared at her; my look must've been equal to a garbage can. Had she even been listening to me just now? She was now walking in a 3 meter distance to me over the railing and kept losing her balance.

…Bet she did it on purpose.

"Okay, that's enough!" I headed towards her, grabbed her hip and threw her a little carelessly over my shoulders.

"Oww…" she uttered and tried to slip out of my grip and jump off my shoulders. But that only caused me to grab her even tighter.

"…You mind putting me down?" she asked a little confused.

"You wished." I said bluntly.

"At least let me walk on my own!"

"That's what you already said once before…and that time you lost half of a beer barrels' amount of blood!"

Completely unflinching I kept on heading towards the staircase, from which she had kicked me off barely 15 minutes ago.

"Where are you even…damn it!" now she seemed to understand that I planned on getting her back to Chopper, since she clenched her upper body and continued her sentence by yelling.

"No! Wait! It's way too hot and locked up inside there! And too loud to boot, it suffocates me!" I ignored her calls and walked up the stairs.

"Hey! Were you even listening to what I told you? ZORO?!" she screeched and cramped her body by coughing incontinently at my shoulders.

"Wasn't that much of a good idea to be wandering around on deck already, uh…?" I replied and loosened up my grip on her back.

"Damn it!" she kept on screaming "Zoro! Put me down, IMMEDITELY!", now she was raging angrily and slammed at my upper back with full force.

"Hoshi, calm down, would you?!" I called out to her over my shoulders.

"Chopper told us, you shouldn't get stressed too much, your lungs are still damaged!"

"It's **you** that's causing the stress!" she kept on screaming and clung on to me with her hands.

We had almost reached the door as she kicked her knee that hard into my chest that I stumbled backwards and loosened my grip whereupon she manages to slip out of my arms.

She her self staggered barely able to not fall down the stairs I just had carried her up and crouched down on her knees while panting heavily.

"At least give me…my rings back!" she pressed out of clenched lips.

"If I'd have them…" I replied.

She suddenly grabbed my shoulder.

"Don't lie to me!" she yelled.

"I know you got them…" she continued a bit more calm and looked right into my eyes seriously.

"I don't want to have to know every single thing that's gong on in your damned minds, after all!" she said, now even more serious as she had already been before.

I stared at her in question.

"What do you mean?"

Furrowing her brow she looked at me.

"Give them back to me and I'll tell you."

Hesitant I looked into her fierce eyes and didn't know whether I should do as she told me or take her back into the ship again.

But she looked at me that seriously, that I sighed and took the bilious green colored rings out of my pocket.

As I lifted them up inside of my spread out hand in front of Hoshi's face, she grabbed them without hesitation and put them back on her fingers, where they belonged.

I held her shoulder for a moment as the impact of the sea-stone took effect and made her stagger. I kept my eyes on her face; her tense expressions relaxed and she opened her eyes in relief.

"Well." She answered to that expecting look of mine.

"Then follow me." She said and walked past me in direction of the mast.

I followed her in an instant and walked down the staircase right behind her.

**- Stage 6 –Scars- END -**

**Random authors noote ~ biatch... :**

**Okay, okay, okaaay...I know I'm updating waay too late, sorry!**

**I didn't really get to do anything since school started after my autumn break again.**

**I typed this up on my pc in more than 4 days!**

**every day at least 3 pages of what I had written on my note block by hand; and this even without any translated passages.**

**whoa...At least this one's pretty long^^**

**So as always:**

**Thank you all fro reading and keeping up witzh me til now.**

**Hope you enjoyed, See U Next STAGE!**


	8. Chapter 7

**...okay, chapter 7...nuff said.**

**Om nom...dunno why I tell u guys this, but I can smell the food from the kitchen 'til up here in my room *-* **

**- Stage 7 –**

**- Hoshi's View –**

Every step that I put on the wooden planks on my way to the mast hurt like hell.

I felt Zoro's nosy looks on my back and his hand on my shoulder as I sat on the floor and used the mast as support.

I hadn't known that moss head could be this gingerly.

As I leant on to the ships' mast I did as me and at down next to me.

Without throwing questions at me that must've been swarming around in his mind he looked completely relaxed into that starlit sky right above our heads.

Because I had no idea how I should start, I kept silent and stared up to the dark night sky just like he did.

Not a single cloud covered our view and a fresh night breeze whiffed over the ship.

"So?" I started.

"What question should I answer for you…?"

He tilted his head in my direction and looked at me through those serious eyes of him.

He kept silent for a moment and knit his brows before he gave me a reply.

"Why didn't you say you took those two bullets?"

Now I made a pretty long face and stared at him in disbelief.

"…What?"

Now he turned to me with his complete upper body and asked a bit more impatiently.

"You must've felt that you were shot at two times! Shouldn't that have knocked you out?"

I waited with my answer and thought about whether I should tell him the truth or just straight out lie.

Admittedly, I couldn't come up with a lie that'd fit which he might eventually believe me.

"I…" I started with my sentence.

"Wasn't sure if you'd still want me with you if I had run off to a doctor just because of that…" I admitted sheepishly.

He gave me a questioning look through his calm eyes.

"So you'd preferably bled to death alone here?"

Wait.

Was he trying to make me feel bad since I had made such a big fuss on the ship and had caused them this much trouble?

"I kinda feel like I got to apologize for that. But I thought it would've just been a hindrance on you journey if I told anyone…" I avert my eyes off him and stared at the floor.

"Say that again and I won't run half of a marathon with a half dead, blood soaking woman in my arms!" Dispraising he looked at me from the side and then started to grin.

I glared at him totally flabbergasted.

"Hoshi!" he now started to laugh "That's ridiculous! Do you really think I'd do that voluntary if we really wouldn't want you in our crew?!"

His laughter slowly faded into a smirk as he looked up into the night sky again.

After a while in which he was sunk in his thoughts and didn't say a word, his facial expressions turned more serious in an instant.

"What devil fruit did you eat?"

I looked at him.

"In the bar, the case with the navy and even just now… What ability is that? Tension? Will-manipulation or even haki?"

I stared at him frowning.

"At the beginning, I thought…I could only control the blood of a person's body…" I answered whereupon Zoro turned his eyes at me again.

"Then, I could even hear the thoughts of that person, pretty unclear and somewhat incomplete though. After a while, the ambience used to get tense, where ever I was.

That's what I still didn't get hold of even now…I can control every Energy you could think of in this atmosphere just like I need it."

After that, I checked at Zoro to see what reaction he'd have to my words.

He thoughtfully stared at me and looked at my right hand that was wrapped around my leg.

"And why do you carry rings made of sea stone right on you body? I can't think of a person who's got devil powers and would put them on voluntarily if it was for no good reason!"

I looked at the bilious green rings on my fingers with a bitter smile.

"If I wasn't wearing them, there'd be a problem." I replied.

"What exactly are they for?" he asked with his upper body bending closer to me in curiosity.

"It's something like a double-effect …The left one suppresses the devils power in general and if I didn't have this one-"I took off the right ring and reached out for Zoro's forehead.

"I can now read your mind, whenever I take it off." I continued and immediately pulled back the finger that rested on his head as I noticed the perplexed look on his face.

"That might be an even greater problem than you think it is for some of our crew members…" he said and touched the place where I had placed my finger before.

"Yeah, that's a huge problem for most of the people that I stumble across…" I uttered thoughtfully and put the ring back on my right middle finger again.

Zoro looked down to me again and then continued:

"That could get kind of bad especially for that shitty cook."

He grinned like a shark again.

"Must've been though for you to always have to know what's going on in that perverted mind of his!" he answered my perplexed looks.

Now, I right out stared at him.

"Oh damn god…! Then that habit of his still hasn't calmed down?!" Zoro started laughing again.

"Wait what? It's been even worse than now?!"

"Yeah…might be." I replied with a crooked smirk.

"Before, he always tried to hit on **me**…!" I ended my sentence while shaking my head.

Now he stared at me sunk in his thoughts again.

"How long have you already known each other?" He asked me.

I looked over to him and had to think about that first, how old had I been as I got on the Baratie?

"That…" I started "has been a pretty long time ago…"

Again, he looked at me with this strange gaze.

"I think…That might've been 8 years ago…"

Now he turned his gaze away from me and laid his head on his neck.

"Now I get why he was **that** concerned about you lying almost in coma…"

A strange tone echoed along with his words, so I looked over to him in confusion.

"Yeah, he's always been watching over me since I was 8 eight years old."

"And then he just up and left you alone 4 months ago easily like that…?"

"No. I was at least 15 years old already back then; I'm not a child anymore, so he didn't have to stay with me any longer." I replied and avert my eyes off him in the end.

"I shouldn't have kept Sanji-san on the Baratie for that long in the first place." I continued embittered.

"Well, you didn't."

Those words of his came way too abruptly and I jerked my head around to be able to see him head on.

"He went away from that place because of us-"

"I know! I was there when he left." I uttered.

"Hoshi, he didn't leave any early because you've been there."

Well that didn't help me one bit.

"He's been staying on the Baratie on his **own **accord!"

Zoro stared at me but turned his head around before I could say anything else.

After that, it was silent.

I kept quiet, since I did not know whether he was mad at me or that damned cook.

Probably both.

And yet, this conversation had started so well.

It was actually the first time that I caught myself wishing I could read his mind at this exact moment.

But probably it was because of my ability that caused him to be angry in the first place.

And again…it's my fault, I thought with a bitter smile.

How should it be different?

"Zoro…?" I asked carefully, but he still wouldn't look at me.

I kneeled down on the hard wooden planks in front of him and spoke up louder.

"Come on, what's it now?" now he had to look at me.

But again, he just turned away as our eyes met. I didn't know what to do now, so I ighed and leaned my back against the mast again as I closed my eyes.

I almost regretted to have agreed to reply to his questions.

After a while, I felt cold and pulled my legs closer and pressed them tightly to my chest.

I laid my head on top of my knees still not facing Zoro and tried to calm down a little.

"You…" The moss head started just as I was about to fall asleep.

"…went after him, didn't you?" I felt his gaze on me but didn't face him.

"Just as we had him get on our ship, you ran into me in RogueTown. You left the Baratie because of him am I right?" his tone sharpened.

I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath.

"Wished I did…" I replied with a dark expression.

Now I finally turned my head around in his direction and looked right into his surprised eyes.

"What…?" he asked after blinking perplexed.

"What reason did you have else to leave that place?"

I wanted to tell him, but that wouldn't turn out well for the remaining crew if someone happened to know. So I kept silent and avert my eyes off his gaze.

"There's no particular reason, just as Sanji-san left along with that crew he joined, I came to notice that I wouldn't have to stay there for any longer either-"

"Stop lying to me." The swordsman interrupted me.

"Is it that bad that you had to come up with such a poor lie?" he asked me with raised eyebrows.

I'd loved to run away, jump into the sea or just disappear, immediately if possible.

I took a deep breath and was just about to open my mouth, but I forced myself to keep quiet.

I didn't dare to look him in the eyes cause then my facade that I could just barely hold up would fall.

"Hoshi…?" he grabbed my shoulder and turned me in his direction. I winced at his touch, well somehow I did so all the times he bumped into me.

But this time, I just stared at him and tried to resist the urge to jump up and run away. But I had to realize, I was completely and utterly at this guys' mercy, if he just looked at me like that.

Without facing his questioning gaze, I lifted my hands up to my neck and released the clamps that kept the bandages around my neck and collarbone.

**- Zoro's View –**

Hoshi kneeled down in front of me and loosened the part where her bandages were kept together.

What the heck was she about to do now?!

Her face clenched as I finally stared at her collarbone, which she just had uncovered.

The more she lifted the bandages, the bloodier the cloth got, that now touched the floor.

Even her facial expression strained itself more and more and her hands were shaking.

"Stop it…!" I said to her and grabbed her hands, but she slapped them off and escaped my grip.

With horror in her eyes that still rested on me, she tore off the bandages completely.

"What the-"I uttered involuntarily as I stared at the gaping wounds which were carving bloody into her shoulder parts.

With clenched face she stared at me and let her hand fall to the ground while holding the end of the bandages.

"Is **this** reason enough?" she asked me with a voice shaking with anger.

"Who did this?!" I asked her as anger grew inside me.

"The Pacifista!" She replied with hatred in her voice.

…Who? I was asking myself.

"I'm talking about Bartholomew Kuma, a lap dog of the god damned world government!" she continued speaking louder and felt at the giant wound a bit underneath her collarbone.

She closed her eyes in rage and clawed into the lacerated flesh that was about to start bleeding again.

In complete shock, I stared at her; I was crouching down bare 20 centimeters in front of her trying to stop her tearing apart her wounds.

"That bastard has been tracking me since more than 10 years now!" she said with shaken voice and glared at me with eyes filled with hatred.

"Why?"

"I don't know!" she replied half screaming.

"No one ever wanted to help me, because all of them just were too fucking afraid of this fucked up navy!" she continued as her body began rocking.

"Until that old Jeff adopted me and took me along with him. It was Sanji-san who kept protecting me although he was only 11 years old at that time!"

I knew by now what she wanted to tell me.

"This one-"-she let her hand crash against the fracture at her neck that had been patched up roughly-

"He gave me before transferring me to RogueTown."

I gaped at her in shock since I knew what the well known Bartholomew Kuma was capable of.

"Just as Sanji-san had been gone, that damn bastard sent me off to that…hellhole! I didn't really get specially nice treatment by those drunk men!" she was breathing and panting heavily and kept her grip on her chest with trembling hands.

.FUCK! was the only thing that could describe my thoughts about what she just had told me.

The only thing that was clear by now, was disregarding how young this woman was, she must've been through a hell of pain.

"I finally managed to escape from those disgustingly drunk idiots after half an eternity, but that didn't appeal that fucked up Pacifista with this damned bible of his…"

She suddenly winced and reached for the even longer burned crack on top of her chest.

"As I fought against it, **this** is what I got." She fell in silence in the end and slowly stood up.

I till kept staring up to her unable to speak and tried to find words to describe the anger I felt by now.

With trembling hands and clenched face, she stumbled against the balustrade and stared at me still panting heavily. I didn't know how to react to those words she had barely been able to tell me so I rose up too.

"That bastard will most probably try to track me down again…" she aid without emotion.

"If that happens," I started "Luffy will do anything to tear that bastard apart."

She stepped further away from me as I got closer to her.

"No." she replied while shaking her head. "The next time, either I will end it, or he will finally get me."

"That'd be equal to suicide!" I called back.

"Maybe I don't deserve any better!" she screamed and turned away from me.

Anger got control of me and I stepped closer to her and reached out for her shaking arm.

She resisted and tried to shake me off, until I finally pushed her to the ground and pressed her down at her shoulder.

She seemed to already have expected that and readied her clenched fist. I could only avoid getting hit by a hairs breadth and grabbed her wrists which I just pressed down over her head.

Breathing a bit heavy, I looked down at her.

"Zoro?! What are you doing…?!" she asked perplexed and still in anger and gave me a glare right out of those terrific eyes.

"Did you even listen to what I said just now?!" I growled at her in anger.

"What do you think the captain will do if you really pull something that stupid?!"" I asked as she stared at me in shock.

"I think that shitty cook won't really like that." She closed her eyes while frowning her brows as I ended my sentence and turned her face away from me.

That didn't really seem to work on her.

"Get…off me!" she hissed to me with dangerously fierce eye.

I didn't even flinch and grabbed even tighter.

But that left her unaffected and she jerked her head up.

Before I could even protect my self from it, her forehead crashed into mine quite painfully and she let he knee follow her forehead.

Now she had released one of her hands out of my grip and pushed me to the side forcefully.

As I opened my eyes again, she already sat on my upper body and pointed a knife right between my eyes.

We were staring in each others eyes for what felt like an eternity until she put her hand right on top of the position where my heart would be and announced cattish:

"Seems like your hearts racing again, Zoro."

She was damn right.

"Am I too heavy for you?" she went on and on and took her knife away at last.

"As if!" I replied and sat up this suddenly that she lost balance and fell on to my chest.

"And what are you doing now?" she called as I pulled up one arm around her back and the other around her hip.

As I stood up completely, she grabbed at me back intuitively and I lifted her up along with me.

"Where are you going…?" she asked as I started moving with her in my arms.

"To the doctor's office." I replied short.

I received a noxious glare at that followed by throbbing pain at the back of my head as she buried her ands in my hair and let it become victim of her anger.

"Oww, wait a moment, I wasn't even finished with **ouch! GOD DAMNIT!**"

I pulled her up and stared at her a she was dangling in mid air, held up by my arms.

"I didn't even finish talking!" She only grinned nasty and I continued.

"We gotta get fresh bandages for you, or someone might see it. Then I'll go call the others, bet they're happy to see you awake too!" I ended my sentence and kept on walking.

I felt her lean back under my arms and went in direction of the inside of the ship.

She was just so damn light that I didn't even notice I still walked through the ship with her pressed tightly on to my chest.

Instantly, I loosened my grip on her body and was about to put her back down on the floor again as she let her head rest on my shoulders with her arms wrapped around my neck.

I tightened my grip so I wouldn't let her fall down at all costs as I just had to smirk.

Seemed like she let me carry her around voluntarily. Before that, she would resist any kind of touch and wince at it.

If she'd feel my pulse now, I bet she would give me a flabbergasted glare.

This wasn't just a heart race anymore…!

**- Stage 7 END -**

**authors noooooote (...biatch -.- okay that line's starting to piss me off) :**

**There might be some mistakes in this since I didn't have much time this week either...not at aaalllll...**

**after all I had 4 exams; 2 main subjects and 2 tests on one day to boot!**

**god...what a hell of a week this was! T^T**

**but there at least is one good thing that happened to you which I can tell u now:**

**on friday in 4th period, I had to write an english class test...but after 10 minutes writing, the head teacher announced we'd have to pack our bags and leave school to get the next busses, or else he wouldn't guarantee us getting home that day XD**

**...That was the first time I had snow-free in the 16. 8 years I've been living up til now :P**

**thanks for reading, reviewing and all that stuff**

**hope you enjoyed and see ya all next staaage!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Kinda feels like an eternity since I last posted a chapter of this O.o**

**Bet it's been over 2 weeks or something like that -.-**

- **Stage 8 –**

-** Hoshi's View –**

Every single one of my muscles hurt painfully and I was completely beaten only from that walking around on deck after such a long time doing nothing but sleep, that I pretty much welcomed the swordsman surprisingly carrying me back.

I felt how he tightened the grip on my back and he kept on walking just as if he didn't carry around 45 kilograms on his arms.

I felt so damn tired and feeble at this exact time that I just couldn't avoid letting my head sink to his shoulder.

I didn't know what to do with neither my arms nor my hands so I just put them around his neck.

"Well…" he said after a while and stopped as we finally stood in front of the doctors' office.

"Here we are."

I lifted my head off his warm and comfy shoulder and kept my hands around his neck while he put me back down on the bed again.

Just as he was completely sure that I was really sitting safely, he let go off my back and stepped back from me a few steps.

"I'll go grab some new bandages…" he called out to me and headed for the cupboard in the corner across the room.

I inspected the treatment room a bit more cautious.

Now I finally knew where that damned peeping sound had come from.

"…You'd better wrap them yourself." Zoro said to me and gave me the patches.

"I've got no idea what to do with this…" he threw in with an innocent smirk.

I wrapped the bandages tighter and tighter around my neck and collarbone. Because it way easier and more comfortable, I just fixed the end of the bandage to the one wrapped around my breasts.

Well, it would've been way cleverer if I had leaned on to something, but I could barely move and my body kept aching like hell since a few minutes so I didn't have much of a choice than just make myself at home like this.

Unfortunately, I couldn't keep my back straightened so I just let myself fall over to the side and just stayed lying with crooked legs on the side like that.

Zoro, who hadn't taken his eyes off me for even a second as I patched myself up again, came a bit closer and furrowed his eyebrows.

"Just stay like that, I guess that's the least exhausting for you now…"

I nodded and buried my head inside the sheets.

"Uuh…" I uttered as I could finally let my body slip out of all stress and completely relax.

"Hey…Just didn't forget to breathe…" he said casually while sitting down on the chair right next to my bed.

I didn't answer since I way just too damn tired to do anything.

"You okay, little one?" he asked me whereupon I rolled over on the side and stared at him.

I blinked completely out of it and let out a questioning "Nnh?" and raised one of my eyebrows.

Zoro looked at me with his head tilted to the side.

I originally wanted to ask him where I had this gigantic fracture on my ribs from; I mean that thing was even more disgusting as that burnt something on top of my collarbone!

That's what I had wanted to ask that moss head before already…

But my eyes kept closing no matter how hard I tried to keep them opened and concentrate myself on staying awake.

I couldn't look in his direction, but I knew that Zoro must've been staring at me with one hell of a long face. –Well that's what he always seemed to do in situations like this-

"…I don't know how it's possible to still be tired after 6 days sleeping, but never mind…" That carried some kind of a surprised tone along with it.

WHO is sleeping without doing anything else?! That's what I had loved to snap at him, but I just lacked the strength to do so in this moment.

As I kept silent and finally curled up, Zoro shortly burst out laughing and rose up from his chair.

I could only feel how he leaned over my body and reached out for a blanket as I was about to fall asleep.

But I pulled myself together and told myself to open my eyes just for one more time.

"…What about the others…?" I muttered into my pillow.

I felt it on my side as Zoro stopped in his movement and turned his face to me.

"Pfft!" he suddenly laughed and covered me with the blanket carefully.

"Idiot! Just sleep!" he said to me while ginning widely.

My eyesight was fading and his face kept blurring into a white-ish green through the lights and my eyes closed shut in the end.

"Another night won't kill them, you know. Peewee." I heard from his direction.

I had to smile at his words automatically before I fell asleep completely exhausted in the end.

**- Zoro's View –**

Just as I had finished my sentence, she was already sleeping. I sat lowered to the chair next to her cushion, crossed my arms and looked at her thoughtfully.

To be honest, this was the first time I could take a look at her face without being X-rayed by her fierce gaze.

With the blanket pulled up 'til right under her nose, she made such an innocent and peaceful impression.

What a hell of a difference it was.

Even her brows were relaxed and she wasn't breathing short and flat like normal but slowly and calm.

Even the flesh wound on her forehead couldn't shake away this peaceful view.

But I knew **what** was under those blankets.

Her broken-down body was just cranked by wounds, scrapes and scars, almost like a second skin. Though, the wound on her neck and the one at her ribs and most of all, the one on her collarbone which divided her upper body until a little above her navel in two, should be deadly for most people.

I kept asking myself just **what **that Kuma had done to her to put such a tiny figure into this messed up state and even burn those slit open wounds he had given her himself.

It was sure: This would never be healing!

But I had no plan what reason that Pacifista saw in truncating and torturing a little girl to this extent without killing her.

Even the wound on her neck hadn't been deadly enough so it seemed…

Or this tiny person was just too tough and just didn't want to die and survived all of this just by her willpower.

…But to be honest, I couldn't imagine it if I took a look at her carefree face.

By pulling a long face and raising an eyebrow, I had to realize, that she was the exact opposite as to how she was behaving when she was awake.

After all, she had just barely been able to stay awake and not fall asleep instantly in the middle of the conversation and was now sleeping so damn careless that I would've loved to give myself a face-palm.

But I held back since I myself was no better…

And I managed to do that even **without** having bled myself half into a coma.

"…God, how damn blessed you are that I'm no abominable pervert…Little one…" I said and sighed.

I stood up and turned my back at her while yawning.

I'd better allow myself a bit of sleep too.

I stretched and turned around to Hoshi in the door frame.

"It'd be better if the others didn't know you were awake in the first place…" I pulled a face at that "Early in the morning, there's always someone checking up on you after all…And that damned cook will just snarl at me that it wasn't **him **who saw you awake first…"

With a big shark-grin, I turned away from her, turned off the lights and pulled the door shut behind me.

**- Zoro's View / END -**

Blinding light of the sun in the morning was flooding the treatment room, in which Hoshi was still sleeping soundly.

There were no traces of her and Zoro's nightly "conversation" the swordsman had even gone out of his way and slept inside the bunks instead of spending the night on top of the ship like he usually did.

Like every morning, Sanji visited the treatment room as very first.

At the noise of the door opening, he had woken up Hoshi against all expectation; she lifted her head half asleep and looked at him.

"Nnn…?" Then she recognized him as the cook and muttered a half hearted –

"Mornin' Sanji-san…"

But he didn't even hear her words anymore but let the vase of flowers fall which he had wanted to put beside her bed. With a loud noise, it crashed as the cook screamed in surprise.

"Hoshi-chan!" …well the Strawhats should've been awake, at least by now.

Before the girl could reply anything she found herself hugged quite clumsy by the cook.

She patted his back first off since she was literally run over by this sort of enthusiasm and had to push him away from her by force, since he was just about to choke her in his arms.

"What's that noise at this hour…?" it came from the door through which Chopper stepped in half sleeping.

"Hoshi? You're awake!" he screamed and was pushed out of the way by their captain in person.

"Sanji, food! ~" he yelled at the cook impatiently and froze in his movement.

"UOOO! HOSHII!"

"Ah…" now even Nami and Robin came in to take a look at the one who made a fuss already this early in the morning.

"Hoshi-chan!"

After that, Usopp stormed in and joined the remaining crew.

Sanji had finally let go off the girl and she was looking at her crew which had gathered around her bed.

In the end, even Zoro walked into the room while yawning and scratching the back of his head.

"God! Finally you're awake again!" Sanji said whereupon Hoshi looked over to Zoro who just gave her a crooked smirk. Even she had to smile automatically at that knowing facial expression of his and tried to suppress her malicious gaze.

"How are you?" Robin asked and smiled at the girl heartwarmingly.

Hoshi looked down on her own body and then uttered:

"Well…okay, I guess?" as if it was nothing.

"You made us worry quite a lot!" Nami bitched with a lecturing look at her, but had to laugh as she saw that Hoshi pulled along face and grinned apologizing at her.

"J-just collapses like that…" Usopp stammered with his arms crossed in front of his proudly convexed chest.

The small girl scratched the back of her head and then cleared her throat a bit ashamed.

As she had straightened her back to full extend on the bed, the blankets slid down and uncovered the long fracture on her ribcage which still hadn't been patched up.

"Nami, we'd better go get fresh clothes for her." The archaeologist said while smiling and then left the doctors office along with the navigator.

"Ah…" she said and turned her head to Hoshi again.

"We should go shopping in the next town…"

Hoshi gave her a puzzled look after that.

"…You need some own clothes pretty badly since mine don't really fit you." Nami replied with a smile and followed Robin.

Chopper, who stood on top of the chair right next to the bed, took a look at the wound that lay bare on Hoshis stomach, before looking directly at her with a serious look.

"We'd better treat this one…" he said and almost instantly jumped off the chair and hurried over to his bag.

"Well um-I…" Usopp kept stammering and headed towards the door.

"I'd better get going too!" He waved at Hoshi who watched him leave through the door frame.

"You too!" he called back to Sanji over his shoulder, who still sat on the bed in front of Hoshi.

Luffy, who had been rummaging around in the cupboard in some corner of the room for the whole time lifted up his head and glared at the cook with hungry eyes.

"Sanji, FOOD!" he called to him and then pulled him along with himself out of the room.

"You come along too, okay?!" his voice echoed from out of the room before they disappeared and left behind a confused Hoshi which was overrun by that amount of enthusiasm.

Zoro leaned on the wall across the room with his eyes closed and his arms crossed on his chest.

"Well…" Chopper started and Hoshi, who finally avert her eyes off the door, now looked at him.

"I guess I'll patch up that wound of yours but before-"

Hoshi held his arm to stop him.

"No…The bandages will only get in the way while fighting, moreover it'll slow down the healing process…"

Zoro opened on of his eyes and looked over to her.

But she only answered his questioning gaze with a smirk.

"How horrible my chest looks with this **thing**-"she pointed at the fracture "doesn't matter to me."

She continued after Zoro furrowed his brows while shaking her head.

"I'm not planning to run around without a shirt in the first place, so I don't care about anything aesthetical." She closed her eyes and let go off of that tiny reindeers' arm with a smirk on her lips.

"Okay." He replied and hopped on to her bed.

He hurriedly cut off the threads that had been a shitty excuse of a try to stitch the wound together and asked Hoshi to sit down on the treatment table.

"Straighten your upper body or else I'll stitch the wrong parts together." The reindeer said.

"Zoro? Be of use and support her for a bit."

"No, it's okay like that." Hoshi replied and nodded in the swordsmans' direction.

"Well he doesn't have anything better to do…" the reindeer uttered whereupon Zoro made an indignant remark, pinched Choppers cheek and pulled at it.

"Hyaa…Zoro!" the tiny doctor screeched and started laughing as Hoshi puffed.

At last, the 3 Strawhats calmed down again and Zoro positioned himself right behind Hoshi and grabbed both of her shoulders quite firmly.

"This might be a bit painful…" the reindeer said and took his needles.

"But please try to stay calm." The doctor continued with a serious tone.

"That's why I'm here…" Zoro said with that menacing shark grin of his as he tightened his grip.

"No need to worry…" Hoshi replied and stared up to the swordsman with her head bent back to her neck while giving him a crooked smile.

"I'm not gonna run away after all." She ended her sentence and gave Zoro a more or less heavy hook on his chin.

As the two had finally gotten hold of themselves after that again, Chopper started to stitch the wound together.

But Hoshi didn't even flinch at the contact of the sharp needle on her skin and kept watching the doctor while he did his work on her own body rather interested instead.

"This wound is way too much…" the doctor murmured with furrowed brows and pulled another threat through her white skin.

"This might take a bit longer than I thought…" he faced Hoshi with an apologetic look, who leaned backwards and sighed in boredom with her head leaning on Zoros' chest.

"Well that's it with my breakfast…" Zoro grumbled and joined in with Hoshis laugh.

"Don't move!" the doctor spoke and used a lot more force.

"Oww…!" Hoshi uttered and jerked together in her movement along with the moss-head.

"…Bet I haven't gotten anything between my teeth for an eternity that my stomach withered away…" the girl mumbled and sighed again.

"Well…" Zoro now uttered.

"What are you sleeping the whole time for?"

After that, Hoshi slammed her elbow right into his belly and grinned at his loud complaints.

"Stop fighting!" the tiny doctor yelled as Hoshi and the swordsman tried to slap each other in the face.

"She's started it!" Zoro roared and earned a plushy kick right at his face which seemed to come from Chopper.

Hoshi laughed at her human backup and gave him a cattish glare.

"Hoshi! I'm gonna stitch that skin of yours together until you won't even be able to stand straight!" Chopper interrupted her laugh and hit against her belly.

"That damn moss-head **made **me do it!" she screamed and seemed to have forgotten who stood right behind her and was holding her up.

"Rea-lly~?" a voice came from behind her.

Then, before she could even take breathe to say anything, he put his hand on her lips and put up his winning smirk.

"Guuh?!" Hoshi mumbled as she tried to pull her "gag" at its hair.

"Yeah, that's it, Zoro! At least she's staying quiet for a bit and I'll be able to work calmly!" Chopper encouraged to Zoro to keep the girl silent.

"Heh! That won't work on me, little one!" he called at her from above her head as she bit his fingers.

Hoshi stared at him completely annoyed, finally kept silent in the end and gave up.

As she relaxed her hands which she had clenched to fists to punch Zoro, she closed her eyes and let herself fall back on his chest again.

"Ah…" instantly, the moss-head loosened his grip on her lips and grabbed her shoulders to support her better instead.

"Yeah, finally! Just stay like that." The doctor uttered and was now finally able to do his work with enthusiasm.

After approximately 15 minutes, the reindeer wiped his forehead in relief and announced the result of his work.

"Everything's fine. That wound should be okay for now!"

Hoshi slid out of Zoro's grip and jumped off of the treatment table.

"Thank you, Chopper!" she said while giving him a little smile and was about to leave the doctors office.

Without covering up her upper body any further, she stepped through the door and put her hand on top of her stomach.

"Wa-Hold it, Hoshi!" the doctor called after her.

"Don't you wanna put something on at least?!" Zoro asked perplexed and ran right into the girl who stuck her head through the door frame again.

"Hn?" she looked down at her almost naked upper body and then smiled bitterly.

"Yeah, sorry. I think **this** won't be that fitting for dinner…"

She took the fresh clothes that Nami had taken to the doctors' office and put on a top.

The she left the room finally and headed to the kitchen and left behind Chopper and Zoro with long faces.

"Well the…" Zoro started "I'll be going too." He nodded at the doctor.

"Go take a look if there's something to eat in the kitchen for you; you've been working in this room the entire morning."

Chopper grinned and nodded as even the swordsman walked out of the room.

**- Stage 8 END -**

**authors nooote:**

**...merry X-mas everyonneeeee ~**

**well...too late, I know but christmas isn't that amazing of an event, right?!**

**Feels like all I've been doin those past 3 days was nothing bnut stuffing food into my belly.**

**...good, I'm so gonna gain weight -.-***

**But who cares either way?**

**It's not like a bunch of people are reading this in the first place.**

**But let me say thank you, to the ones who drop by and take the time to read through those 8 chapters :)**

**I'm grateful to any of you and appreciate any kind of actions you guys do with this, may it be favorites, follows or even reviews :)**

**Since this authors note can't be more random and almost takes a third of the whole page, I'mm gonna stop annoying you with this rediculously boring stuff and start with stage 9.**

**See ya next stage ;)**


	10. Chapter 9

**Hope this one's a bit longer, since I had more time to type it in because I'm still in the middle of winter break and stopped being lazy for a little bit^^.**

**- Stage 9 -**

Hoshi left the kitchen after 2 hours in which she had been talking to the cook.

Saturated and satisfied, she stepped on the corridor and first of all stretched her arms.

"Come to me anytime you need something!" the cook called after her with heart-shaped eyes while waving his arms around, which the girl just answered with an annoyed smile beckoning in his direction.

As soon as the door closed behind her, her quite obviously forced up facade crumbled as he let out a relieved sigh.

"Sanji-san, you've become so damn meddlesome…" while shaking her head, she made her way to the weapon storage room –if this ship even owned something like that.

With a testing look she took out both of her knives and checked them. Only with those she wouldn't really be able to train; well not effectively enough.

"Just where the fuck did this Pinocchio put my wakizashi?!" she murmured frustrated and opened some random door to her right since she didn't have a plan where she should look for that damned cannoneer.

"Excuse me, U-"she said as she stepped in.

"-Sopp…?" she ended her sentence while blinking and stared to the person in front of her.

**- Hoshi's View –**

"Hoshii!" Luffy, who was just about to stuff-what-ever-it-was inside his throat, called to me.

I had forgotten what I originally had wanted to ask by the view of him.

"Okay, **what **did you just chow down?!" the words literally jumped off my lips.

"Oh, this…?" he asked after a while and held up a ridiculously gigantic –**something- **which seemed to be a bone.

I nodded while raising one of my eyebrows.

"Sea-King steak! Just got it from the kitchen!" he snickered and gave me a big grin.

…Yeah, seems legit.

What else would have such gigantic bones?!

"Ah, Luffy!" I walked up to him and grabbed his wrist as that so-called "captain" of mine was just about to stuff the remains of his "pickings" into his belly.

"Hn?! He asked with stuffed mouth.

I had just recalled what I had even entered this room for.

"Any idea where Usopp might be?"

Luffy tilted his head to the side and forced another huge "rock" of meat down his throat before answering.

Well, after all, everything he wanted to tell me resulted in incoherently spat out syllables and noises I didn't want to identify; since some oversized fishbone was stuck the long was around between his teeth.

"Ngaaa…!" Came out of his mouth and he pulled the bone, which just happened to be the same size of my own backbone out of his mouth.

"Down inside the ship, at the furnaces…" he now replied in fully cohere human language and grinned at me again.

"Thanks!" I called out to him over my shoulder, put another huge steak between that gum-brains cheeks and slammed the door shut behind my back.

I walked through some corridors and climbed down an iron ladder which led to a trap door.

I balanced the lid open and put my head into the whole in the floor without hesitation.

"Usopp?!" I called loudly into the chamber.

The long-nosed cannoneer jerked his head around and pulled up the helmet which covered his face to see who had just been yelling around behind his back.

"Gyaaa?!" he loud out an extremely high pitched voice as he screamed in shock as he let go off his hammer after he had suddenly spotted my face in the trap door.

"Stop yelling like that…" I murmured and squeezed my eyes together.

"Wa-wa-wa...Hoshi! God that scared me!" he stammered and grabbed at his chest.

"That's how you look like. No…Well anyway I want my wakizashi back!" I replied and ignored the grunting sounds he made with his nose running and hands trembling still in shock.

"And my katana, if you don't mind!" I added as he didn't answer.

Without saying anything, he held the short sword in front of my face and afterwards, after I had told him to, he gave back my oversized katana.

"Thanks!" I said and snitched half of my inventory from in front of his flabbergasted face without asking why he had my stuff to begin with.

Horridly fast, I slammed the lid back on and climbed up the iron ladder, finally re-equipped and armed with katana and wakizashi after such a long time.

Grinning happily, I lashed through the ship, tied my long hair together while running and threw open the door to the outside of the ship.

Finally I could train again.

And even at perfect weather, how I came to notice as I stared into those thick rain clouds and instantly a comfortably cold shiver ran down my spine.

I slid down the stairs to the lower platform and closed my eyes.

With my head bent back onto my neck, I pulled as much air as I could into my lungs.

I could feel the entire energy in the atmosphere that surrounded me and gathered them inside me.

The weather would get worse soon and eventually turn into a storm, I could feel it.

All of those accumulations of bunched energy which seemed to pump into the heavy rain clouds over my head; they seemed to flood right into me.

Instantly I opened up my eyes and pushed out the air again.

A numbing hammering noise started to ache in my head and I let all of the tension fall off of me abruptly.

If it had started thundering indeed just now, I'd most probably have turned into an lightning rod.

"Nice to know that I shouldn't do that again..!" I thought quite bitterly and exhaled deeply.

I pulled both of my knives from the outer sides of my thighs and went into a more offensive position.

Completely in control over my whole body, I strained every single muscle inside me and tightened the grip on my weapons.

Without wasting even more time, I leapt off the ground and started with my routine program.

Kinda good to know that my reaction and reflexes hadn't suffered in this long time of doing nothing at all.

I was just in the middle of an extremely complicated combination of fighting techniques as I heard a creaking sound of the wooden planks from behind me.

Abruptly, I let the knives disappear, stopped in mid air and snapped my head around.

Just who the fuck had seen me?

**- Hoshi's View –END-**

I had seen everything; the way she had drawn all of the energy in our surroundings and let them tense up just now.

It had been so damn hard not to hold my breath as I had just become a witness of the way she fought and those damn fast movements of hers.

What confused me more was that she had stopped in the instant she had heard a noise and was now staring at me with eyes widened in shock.

A big grin spread over my face as I noticed how her facial expression turned bitter.

"What are **you **here for?" she asked quite calm although her voice was cold and tough.

Wordlessly, that shark-grin of mine twitched through my face and I pulled out my katana as an answer.

Still in defensive position, even her young face deformed to a frantic smile; she understood.

"Beautiful…" she snarled and reached with her right hand over her shoulder

"And I already thought I'd have to do this alone, Zoro."

At tremendous pace, she tore that oversized long katana off her back and sprung through the air into my direction.

The edges of our blades clashed with an exaggeratedly loud crashing sound; I had barely been able to pull up by sword.

In the meantime, she was literally **floating **in the aira little above me and fixated me with those incredibly clear eyes of hers.

Just like in slow-motion, she swayed into my direction which caused her face to get closer to mine until there were barely 5 centimeters between us.

Out of reflex, I swung my katana and pushed her back into the air where she flew backwards without making a noise and finally, without setting her eyes off me, she landed on top of the mast light-footed.

As she had strut apart her "impact" in the split of a second, she let her hand slide off her stable support and she jumped cowered down to the wooden planks.

A bit stunned, I stopped moving and stared down to her.

Had I just seen a fucking "smile" cross her face as she had been floating in mid air right in front of me?

No…That had just definitely been part of my imagination because she now crouched down on the ground like a god damn cat while baring her teeth in a frozen smirk as a murderous expression engraved her face from time to time.

I didn't have any time to be thinking about stuff like that because she lashed off the position she had been just a second before and was now heading towards me at tremendously high pace.

I could only evade her sword at a hairs' breadth, which she drove into the crack between two planks in the floor where my foot had been just a moment ago.

"Heh!" I spat out; now her sword was stuck.

But this didn't seem to impress her in the least bit.

She wrapped the hilt of her sword with both of her hands, used it as a support and leaned on it with her body as she swung into my direction right before she kicked her feet right into my chest.

I staggered a few steps backwards in shock and touched my upper body.

Astounded, I looked at her, it seemed that she hadn't intended to hurt me for real, since I didn't feel any pain from the impact of her kick.

She stared at me with a crooked smirk and pulled out a wakizashi – from where the fuck ever she had taken it just now –

I tightened the grip around my katana and prepared for an attack as she was still trying to get her katana out of the crack.

Instead of getting hit, she tried to duck under the blade and rolled over on the side.

To get more distance between us, she jumped onto the balustrade, pulled out one of her knives and built herself up to her whole size in front of me.

I turned around to her and just saw how she accumulated all the energy around herself again.

"Too slow…" I thought and prepared for another attack with my katana.

Against any expectations, she let her body fall to the ground and slammed with both of her palms onto the floor in front of her.

Without being able to move, a blast wave engulfed me and prevented myself from moving.

She didn't hesitate too long and threw her wakizashi into my direction, which just barely missed me and grazed the sleeve of my shirt and pushed me back completely.

Well she didn't waste any time, but I was faster.

Just as she lashed at me once more, I jumped up and countered with my katana.

She seemed to have expected it since she slapped my wrist to the side and pulled out a knife with her other hand which tore the sword out of my grip.

Out of reflex I let my 3rd katana swirl through the air to block her second knife.

But the planks of the ship were shaking by the sudden movement of the waves under us which caused her to stumble backwards.

With a clang, her last knife fell to the ground at last and the sharp edge of my blade dashed directly at her upper body.

Unable to take pull back my sword in its movement, I had to watch how Hoshi stared at me through eyes widened in shock while the katana was flying towards her unprotected body.

It was too late.

She's unarmed, not even someone like her could dodge that! The thoughts were flying through my head.

"Damn it…!" I pressed out with contorted face and avert my eyes still hoping she'd somehow manage to escape the blade.

I stopped breathing as the katana crashed into something hard.

"Clanggg!" it echoed and I opened my eyes.

But what I saw was anything but what I had expected.

Hoshi had punched her fist into the blade from the side and that way, just in the right moment blocked the attack.

She now watched with a winning grin as my third and last katana finally slipped out of my grip and flew through the air past her gaze.

I, in the meantime, was still falling right into her direction and would soon fall right on top of her.

As my head turned read all of a sudden, her grin became even bigger, she dodged me grabbed my shoulders and even managed to break my fall by catching me with her upper body.

It just went according to her plan?!

I couldn't move because of this damn amazement and had to watch how she grabbed around my waist and let my body crash into the floor backwards.

With her left hand at my shoulder and her knee on my chest, she got me to the ground rather ungentle.

She glared at me with a patronizing smirk and clenched her right fist which was now coming closer to my face at a ridiculously high speed.

…This woman doesn't know pity… I came to notice with wide open eyes.

This'd hurt pretty badly…I thought, closed my eyes and waited for the impact to come.

With a bone-breaking sound, her fist crashed into the wooden planks.

Only then did I open my eyes carefully.

The air around us was sizzling and I turned my head to the left.

While blinking, I stared at the fist that had made a bulge into our ship.

I swallowed and watched how Hoshi was slowly opening her fist and looked her right in the eye, which were merely 10 centimeters away and glaring down to me from above.

"O-okay…" I stammered as I noticed that she pressed my body to the floor.

"You won…!"

Panting quite heavily because of the shock, I saw how her facial expression changed; her hand slid from my shoulder to my chest and used it as a support as she sat up straight.

I just **had **to stare at her, the way she was sitting next to my right arm with crooked legs on top of my stomach and kept staring down to me with a winning smile on her face.

"And…" her voice tore me out of my thoughts. "How about a nice cold bottle of beer?"

I looked up to her with puzzled look.

Just how often had I been in this exact same situation?!

Carefully, I sat up a bit and she stood up from my upper body with a bit of surprise showing on her young face.

"Of course…!"I gave as a reply, grabbed her wrists and pulled us up on our feet with a consent nod.

"Did you learn all this to be safe from that shitty ero-cook?" I asked after she had brushed off some pieces of splintered wood and dust of her clothes.

She flinched for a moment because of that question and then tilted her head to the side.

"…No, I was kinda capable of this since I was a little kid…"

After that, my look still stayed puzzled and so she continued.

"That was way **before **I've met Sanji-san…"

I kept looking at her completely sunken in my thoughts while she loosened up her hair and took out two bottles of beer out of a chest in the food-storage room after rummaging around for quite a while.

"…Bet that wouldn't have kept that shitty cook away from you…" I thought loudly and scratched the back of my head…too loud!

"Hn?" she asked while she snapped the bottles open on the railing. I looked at her with my head bent to the side.

She checked both of the bottles and emptied the one in her left hand in less than a few seconds.

A crooked grin spread over my face as she held the other one at my face and her own one against the sun to check if there wasn't even a drip of the beer inside left to drink.

Drinking her beer just like water, uh…?

I thought and took the second bottle out of her hand.

I put it up on my lips and kept watching her how she put one of her hands inside her pocket and reached out for her collarbone with the other.

"…What?" she finally asked me after she noticed that she was still being stared at curiously.

I blinked confused at that gaze of hers and emptied my bottle too in the end.

"…Nothing…" I uttered and avert my eyes off her in an instant.

She gave me a skeptical look but then walked back to the inner part of the ship.

I looked at her while she opened the door, stepped in and then after all closed the door behind her back.

Only after what felt like 10 minutes, I realized that I was still goofing off gawking at the door and I slapped myself right in the face.

"What the fuck am I doing…?!" I said in confusion without even realizing and then headed into the ship to get more exercise.

Only late in the evening did I go back to the others.

**- Zoro's View END –**

The sun had long set already as the Strawhats finally assembled in the kitchen.

Sanji stood near the stove and tried to prepare dinner without slamming the hot frying pan right into Luffys' face "by accident" since he was drooling and almost sitting on the cooks' lab with cutlet-shaped eyes.

Usopp was of no big help either.

He was almost as bad as their gum-brained captain, just without the ability to swing and stretch his arms around in the kitchen while trying to snitch food.

The archaeologist, Robin was sitting a bit aside from the others at the table like always and read a book with a light smile on her face, while Nami seemed to have already given up on lecturing them loudly since she only kept her eyes on them while shaking her head.

Hoshi leaned tiptoeing over one of the work spaces and seemed to talk rather uninterested with Sanji, while she kept pinching Luffys' cheek behind his back and pulled it long.

The tiny plushy reindeer sat on the table in front of Zoro and tried to make him lose his temper with chopsticks as he kept poking them at his temples once a second.

But he just kept glaring straight forward with his head resting on his hand as the light poking turned into penetrant slamming in the meanwhile.

Hoshi was just about to turn one of Luffys' nostrils into an oversized megaphone, as suddenly a loud banging sound came from behind her back.

"Oi, Chopper!" the moss-head roared at the little reindeer and held him on his shirt up into the air in front of his face.

The tomato-red face of the swordsman was emitting smoke of anger which almost gave an impressive contrast to that moss-green headdress of his.

But that didn't seem to impress Chopper too much since he now curled up of laughter and ignored the flood of ranting curses.

Zoros' facial expression darkened and his jaw dropped just like that of a pouting carp as he noticed that all of this didn't work in the slightest.

Chopper, who was still held up in mid air, now suffered of labored breathing and started to hiccup because of his laughter.

Nami kept ignoring them skillfully; Usopp was already digging into his food and Sanji put the remaining plates in front of the rest of the crew.

Luffy encouragingly pat on Zoros' shoulder as the swordsman looked even more aghast than already before.

But this didn't have anything to do with that over 1 meter long arm of his captain but more likely the fact that the gum-brain had "abducted" even **his** very own share of food.

Now, his patience was over;

Zoro was just about to cut off his captains' arm, as he heard a clear, high-pitched resounding laugh from his right.

The Strawhats stopped in what ever they did and turned set their eyes on the kitchen.

Hoshi stood wither upper body bent forward in front of the fridge and covered her stomach with shaking hands.

She….was laughing…

"Aahahahaha!" it came from her without any restraints whereupon she just came to notice the 7 pairs of eyes that all rested on her.

"Oh…" she uttered in surprise and stopped her "clucking".

"So-sorry, but Zoro just –" the swordsman pulled such a ridiculously strange face that she started to laugh again instantly.

"See? Again!" she pointed in direction of his moss-green head while laughing hard.

"Y-your fa-face…!" now that she could barely stand because her laughing wouldn't stop, the remaining crew joined her untenable fit of laughter.

It was quite the performance Hoshi put up since she just had to grab onto something to stay on her legs,

-(Well in this case Sanji who didn't seem to be bothered by that)-

compared to Chopper who most probably had fainted at a loss of oxygen and was still dangling in mid air in front of Zoro.

Even Zoro went as far as to let a big shark-grin cross his face; well you couldn't really blame him for it since all of his crew mates were laughing in complete chaos.

His gaze met Hoshi, who seemed to have gotten hold of herself as the first one in this mess.

With blushed cheeks she sighed in relief and wiped off a tear from the corner of her eye.

She noticed Zoros gaze and couldn't help but give him a relieved smile as a reply.

It wasn't possible for the swordsman to not avert his face off the girls' warm smile and let a little smirk show up on his lips.

Sanji, who seemed to be overjoyed regarding the fact he could be the human backup for a girl - a not too ugly one to boot – calmed down pretty fast and lit his cigarette like a "stylish" gentleman.

But this didn't even appear to be half as classy as he thought it would, since it rather felt ridiculous if you thought about his sense of "pride" to be of use for a pretty female being.

Hoshi pat his childhood friends shoulder while balancing herself around the table until she stood in front of Zoro.

He looked up for a moment and was just about to ask what the heck the girl was scheming again, as she reached out for that immobile **something **was inside his very own grip still dangling in mid air.

Only then he recalled that Chopper was still hanging in front of his perplexed face.

Just for long had he been there "floating" around already…?

"Oh, umm…-" the swordsman started and didn't find the right words.

"Hey, Chopper-" Hoshi chittered with such an amazingly sweet tone you'd never have expected from her.

She didn't seem to really notice Zoros' words and took the tiny reindeer out of the moss-heads' hands and carefully poked his nose instead.

But even that didn't wake him up from his too early and forced winter-sleep.

With her head tilted to the side, the girl watched their doctor and put up a contemplative look, whereupon Zoro looked at her pretty strangely.

What the heck…? he couldn't think any further because-

"Don't worry, Hoshi-chaan ~" – well that's why.

"He's gonna wake up soon anyway, darling ~!" the shitty cook wobbled with his arms around the girl again and, without heart-shaped eyes, or heavy nosebleeds though; so he was just making fun of the moss-head…

Hoshi only shrugged at that since it let her cold just as always.

"Guys!" the captain piped up.

"Hoshi's up again, time for party!"

The remaining crew joined in on his good mood and instantly they changed the location of what had been a peaceful, cultivated dinner only few minutes ago and had now turned into a party to the outer decks.

Sanji ran outside and took the table from the kitchen along with him, Usopp and Luffy grabbed everything edible they could find and started to staple it outside of the kitchen.

Nami had run into her room and returned with a stack of fresh clothes.

Robin took the sleeping reindeer out of Hoshi's arms as the navigator passed the clothes on to her and was wearing a complete different outfit than the one she had worn just barely a minute ago herself.

"Here, put this one, shorty!" she said to Hoshi while winking at her and had already disappeared through the door at the same time.

Hoshi pulled the extremely oversized black shirt over the bandages that had been the only thing to cover her chest just a while ago.

Robin gave her a smile as she gave back the little reindeer to the younger woman, before she went out to join the remaining crew.

A creaking sound from a pushed back chair came from Hoshis' left.

With closed eyes and a smirk on his face, the swordsman stood up, before he gave the girl a wicked gaze.

"Well, I guess this means alcohol."

Hoshi didn't wait for him to tell her this for a second time and followed the moss-head, who was heading over to the storage room with fast steps.

The young girl wa already trying to get more than just one barrel of beer outside as soon as she got there.

But this seemed to be quite the problem, since she didn't even have her hands free and pushed the barrels forward with her feet.

Zoro only watched it with a crooked grin and picked up the beer out of her reach as he passed her and went out of the room while shaking his head.

"Don't bother." He answered that pretty strange look Hoshi gave him as the swordsman walked past her with all of the barrels in his arms.

"Just hold on to Chopper, you shouldn't be carrying this heavy stuff to begin with." Zoro uttered and pushed the girl out along with him with an energetic movement of his hand.

"Heh-"Hoshi replied with a smirk and embraced the tiny doctor with both of her arms again.

"You do the dirty work; leave the pleasure to me…"

The swordsman had expected her to tell him that from the very beginning since this so called "pleasure" meant nothing else but **Beer**.

And again, he couldn't help but smirk because of it.

To ask her whether she was of age or not was way too unnecessary since Zoro knew that such insignificant details as this meant nothing to the girl.

And to be honest, no one would doubt it regarding the impression her looks gave to strangers.

Besides, the moss-head had seen this girl with of bottle of alcohol in her hands more than just once, so he didn't care about how old she was, just like the ones who had allowed her to be the only waitress in a pub overflowing with pirates.

"Cheh-!" he uttered involuntary as Hoshi slid past him with Chopper embraced by her arms as she went in direction of the rest of the crew.

"Hoshi-chaan~!"…this again.

The just called girl flinched at it for a second and looked up.

"Ah- Sanji-san."

The cook was heading for Zoro, who had put the 3 barrels of beer down by now and the girl.

As Sanji faced the swordsman on his way to the girl, he sent him a dreadful glare, turned away his face and kept coming at Hoshi against all expectations.

"What's it?" the girl asked the blonde who now stood in front oh her with his hands on her shoulders.

Sanji took a look at the bandages that were wrapped around her neck quite tightly and smoothed the raw cloth.

"No, it doesn't hurt, don't worry." Hoshi answered his questioning gaze.

The cook looked at the girl with serious eyes as he replied.

"Healed already?"

From the corner of her eyes, Hoshi looked over to Zoro who had lowered his glare down to the barrels that stood behind her and Sanji while trying to ignore the cook.

"Yeah." She finally answered and smiled at the blonde.

The cook kept watching her for a moment before he continued while shaking his head.

"Here," he rummaged around in his front pocket.

"Let your bandages refresh when Choppers up again."

He nodded in direction of the still sleeping reindeer in Hoshis' arms.

"For now, this should do."

Sanji wrapped a thin, black ribbon around her neck and fixed it as a bow at her neck.

Hoshi looked curiously down at his hands.

The cook tied it together and stepped back to get a better view of his work.

The girl blinked in surprise as the blonde laughed shortly and muddled her hair with the palm of his hand.

"Well, could be worse." He said and smiled at her approvingly.

"Almost looks like how it's supposed to…" after that, the girl sent him a toxic glare and winced in surprise as the cook flipped her chin up with his forefinger before he went back to Nami and Robin.

She stayed back with a bitter smile and turned her face to the remaining crew while stabbing his back with her deadly glare.

"Zoro."

He jerked and choked at the rum he had almost spilled over himself before raising up his head in her direction in surprise.

That just came out of nothing. the moss-head thought for himself.

"…beer!" the girl finished and turned her question into a demand before staring at the swordsman.

**- Stage 9 – END -**

**authors note:**

**I think I made a lot of mistakes while translating the german version into the english one, but I'm not able to check it properly since I'm just always so damn happy after finihing a chapter that I'm not in the moss to read over it fore more than just once afterwards -.-**

**Well, sorry for that, but I just reached the second note block I wrote this story on by hand...**

**With the end of this chapter, we've reached the 100 pages mark. (114 pages to be exact ^^)**

**So, thanks for reading, any interaction with this is much appreciated and blablabla...like the other stuff I usually write **

**See you next stage ;)**


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